MetaDreams
by StarLion
Summary: The fourth title in the Meta-story series. The Mark of Mastery exam looms for Sora and Riku... and now Xion too? Stranger still, it isn't Yen Sid overseeing this exam.
1. A New Adventure

Alright, let's get started with this, shall we? As usual, Kingdom Hearts is still not mine, so aside from all the things that Neku and I have added for whatever reason, most of what follows is not mine.

Now this story, not that you need me to tell you, is the fourth story in what's become known as the Metastory Series. For those who haven't read the previous three (in which case, why are you reading this one first?) Neku is a book with the power of altering reality, who by my own accident caused me to live through Sora's life and have it turn out vastly different. There's more to it than that of course, but I'm not recounting all three stories right here.

This story is also a collaborative effort between me – that's StarLion to those of you reading this online, and Liam to those of you reading the copy Mickey wants to put in his library – Neku and Roxas, with assistance from Jiminy Cricket, who is chronicling the adventures of Sora, Riku and Xion. Along with whatever I get up to at the same time. We don't pay nearly enough respect to the little fellow for the fine work he does or the detail he manages to capture.

We're also working on this as events unfold, so for those of you reading online instead of the finished volume, what you read has probably happened very recently. Because we kinda have to wait until we have enough to put up in the form of a chapter, sometimes updates will come quicker, and other times slower.

Finally, before we begin, I want it fully understood that a lot of what follows was most certainly _not_ my idea. With the exception of Riku asking me to drop in and watch him take his Mark of Mastery exam under Yen Sid, I had no intentions of meddling here unless it became necessary. However as is so often the case, I figured without the many deviations from the original story caused by me alone, if not by Roxas too.

So with that lengthy preamble aside... let's begin.

* * *

There's something to be said about the fun of adventures, and even I'll concede that once I get a bit of time to rest and settle back into a normal (or what passes as normal for me) life again, I start longing for it again. Adventures are addictive things, they have ways of sinking hooks into you to drag you back for more.

That being said, after I'd finally got back home from dealing with Charlie (See 'Metacoded') I was looking forward to a nice long time in which I could enjoy a rest. And persuade Roxas not to take me to task for leaving him behind during that particular adventure, but lets not touch on that here.

I had reasoned that I would have a nice break from having to go haring around all over the place after Heartless and Nobodies and other assorted madmen who lust after a heart-shaped moon. A nice break before I'd have to drop in on Yen Sid to watch the Mark of Mastery test.

And certainly a very long time before the I had to be too concerned about Yen Sid's warning that the Heartless know where my home world is. Not that they'll be getting there any time soon; once I got through the initial time out I set about leaving all manner of interesting things in the Lanes Between to persuade them there are other places to play. I _won't_ let the Heartless set foot on my world if I can stop them.

But that's another story, and one that fortunately isn't going to be written until one of them finally does manage that.

As a Keyblade Master myself, I'm naturally obliged to make occasional trips out and about to check on the worlds, make sure there's nothing up, catch up with my friends and the like. I always stop in to see Mickey and Yen Sid on those trips and not too long ago, by sheer coincidence – or so I thought – when I paid a call on Yen Sid, it turned out Mickey was also present, and this is where our story truly begins.

"Ah, Liam," Yen Sid greeted me, magicking up – what else – a cup of tea. I've never mentioned it to him, but the ones he creates never taste quite the same as the real thing. "We were just talking about you."

"We?" I asked, then spotted Mickey who had previously been concealed by the chair he'd been sat in. "Well isn't this a rare thing? When was the last time we three were in the same room together?"

"Y'know, I don't think we ever have been actually," Mickey replied. "Roxas with ya, by any chance?"

"Nah, he's gone off on his own again. He gets bored from time to time and decides to go exploring on his own. I can't really say no, not since Neku arranged for him to be alerted if something comes up I need him for."

"He remains a convenient friend," Yen Sid noted. "But we need not call Roxas here just yet. It is you specifically we need speak of, and of what is to come."

"Now hold on right there," I held up one hand. "You both know I'm not revealing anything I know about even possible futures. I thought I told you that already."

"I am referring more to what you have already revealed. You know of course that the time for Sora and Riku to take the Mark of Mastery is due?"

"I hadn't known the exact time, but I assumed it'd be coming up in due course. Why mention it?"

"Well, y'see Liam..." Mickey started, then faltered slightly when I looked to him. In all the time I've known Mickey, I've never known him to do that. I know there are a few people out there who think I can be fairly intimidating at times, but I don't make a practise of biting people's heads of.

Readers of the past stories know that I once claimed to have future sight though it often got exposed as a fraud. Roxas is the one who really got that, gifted to him in limited form by Neku. But in spite of that, I had a momentary premonition, and I suspected I knew exactly what was coming next.

"No," I said firmly. "Absolutely out of the question."

"At least hear us out," Yen Sid said, and grudgingly – very grudgingly, if I was right – I waited to hear what they had to say.

"Y'know I'm always kinda busy, right?" Mickey started again. "You don't get to be the King by doing nothing, and after having to run off and leave Minnie behind a few times... well, it just doesn't feel right to ask her to handle things for me again. There's always things she puts off for me to handle when I get back, and that just makes things even busier for me." He stopped, looking almost worriedly at me.

"Go on," I prompted, not trusting myself to say any more just yet.

"Welp, you know Master Aqua is kinda... still lost in the Realm of Darkness, and we're not even certain if Terra ever made master or not, even if it was under Master Xehanort. Obviously Xehanort and Eraqus are unavailable too, and that means we're down to two Keyblade Masters left."

"And I, as you know, have chosen to doff that title. I am master no more," Yen Sid said.

"So you want me to handle the Mark of Mastery instead. I _knew_ this was going to come up."

"Then you'll do it?" Mickey asked.

"Don't be absurd. I've got responsibilities at home, let alone my responsibilities as a Master myself. I don't pretend to know what you have to put up with as a King, but I'd be willing to bet there are times I'm just as busy as you are."

"But you're the only other Master-"

"Listen to me," I cut him off. "If it were not for me, I could say with absolute certainty that you, Yen Sid, despite your insistences to the contrary, would take up the mantle of Keyblade Master again to put Sora and Riku to the test. I know I've interfered before, and that things would have turned out differently if I hadn't, but I'm _not_ going to do that now. If Riku still wants me to be present when he takes the test, I'll be there, but I won't submit to this absurdity."

"You have a duty as a Keyblade Master, Liam," Yen Sid told me reprovingly.

"Don't give me that. As I recall, though best not to ask how, Xehanort once talked about the duties. A Keyblade Master can _choose_ – emphasis there on 'choose' – to take on students and train them up to pass the mark on to them, or they can choose to go out into the greater world and ensure the balance of light and dark is maintained. You both know that's what I've been doing, we discuss it often enough."

"D'ya think I don't do that either?" Mickey snapped, suddenly very irritated. Not that he pulls it off very well. Sorry Mickey, but it's true, you just can't sound irritated very well. "D'ya think I just ruled my castle and the town? Why d'ya think Radiant Garden's residents know about the Lanes Between? Not just because they've travelled them, but because I rely on them to keep a watch out! Them and Yen Sid both watch the worlds, certainly better than you do 'cause you gotta travel four hours just to reach the rest of the worlds, you're that distant! If anything comes up that we can't handle, we gotta hope we can hold out long enough for you to show up, and even then... well, you know the lengths we had to go to just to deal with Charlie. You bring your own share of troubles to the scene with Neku and his relatives."

Being berated by Mickey is a novel experience. I've been shouted at, yelled at, berated and more by many people, but by far the strangest has to be Mickey.

He took me completely off guard with his sudden outburst at me, and I knew even as he said it that what he was saying was true. Well, maybe not all true, I'll grant Charlie caused a little trouble, but him aside the books haven't actually done that much. Sora respects the one who came to him, Saisha, the same way I do Neku, so the two of them don't often get involved.

Mickey took a deep breath, appearing to calm himself back down again.

"You cannot deny he has a point, Liam," Yen Sid said calmly. "While we all obviously appreciate your efforts, and understand you like to keep up with your many friends across the worlds, it must be conceded that it has been... somewhat superfluous."

"Even if I were to go through with this – and I'm not saying I will, mark you – I don't have anywhere to take them for their training or exams, and I don't have a very good idea of what they need to go through. I can't take them to my world – far too many questions would be raised if I did that. To my knowledge, there's nowhere safe I can use anywhere with the possible exception of the tower of Hollow Bastion, and even that needs a lot of fixing up before it's safe again."

"We kinda thought of that before you got here," Mickey told me. "We couldn't decide where was best, but we narrowed it down to two options. Yen Sid suggested using the Hall of the Cornerstone, 'cause at least then you'd be able to use some of its protective effects if you needed, but I reckon you might be better off if we loaned you his tower."

"You'd... actually do that?" I asked, taken aback.

"Reluctantly, yes," Yen Sid agreed. "I would prefer not to be inconvenienced with this happening here, but as we were unable to decide, we felt it should be left up to you."

"And then only if you can persuade me to do it in the first place. No, I'm sorry," I said as Mickey started to object again. "But I'm just not convinced you have to leave this to me. If I know you'd handle it were I not around, I see no reason to change that," I told Yen Sid. "You know far more about the Mark of Mastery than me, you've had a past student yourself who made the mark and you certainly know more about what needs to be done than I do."

"I think you should do it," a quiet, though familiar voice said from one of the windows. Neku was leaning against it, having appeared without bothering to let us notice him. He loves to surprise people by seeming to show up out of nowhere or making them think he's been there all along.

"Oh come on, not you too," I said half-heartedly. "I know you've been listening, and you know even more about why I won't do it."

"Be realistic Liam," he replied. "That would only happen if you and I had never met at all, or at least if you'd never written those first words in my book. A lot has happened since then that shouldn't have."

"At least what happened is still recognisable to anyone who knows what should have happened," I countered. "Same goal, different means, and when you get right down to it, it's the goal that counts, not the means."

"By that logic, it doesn't matter if you handle the test then, because who does it is just the means – it's the goal of their exams that matters," Neku replied.

"I think he's got ya there, Lee," Mickey said.

"Tell me that isn't your only reason, old friend," I asked Neku, ignoring Mickey's comment.

Neku sighed and muttered something in the language of the books. I've tried several times to wrap my head around it, but its unbelievably complex compared to our own language. I can just about manage to say 'Good morning', and that's about it.

"Think of it this way Liam. Strictly speaking, this is all your story, right? That means it diverged from the original one the moment you and Sora ended up trading places, and the only reason the original still affects your story is because you're too stubborn to let go. You and Roxas – you both could have changed the course of the story so much if it hadn't been for that. Who knows, maybe you'd have been able to eliminate the Organization without ever going to Castle Oblivion – but you both insisted on trying to stick to what you thought was supposed to happen. Let it go, Liam. Carve your own path for a change."

"If I do though, I'll-"

"_I'll_ handle that," Neku cut me off. "I'm not letting you run about without Roxas again, not after Charlie."

"You're..."

"Going to cover for you, yes. Gods know I certainly know you well enough by now, and if you're still going to be a pain I'll even offer you this. Instead of picking from their suggested locations and having you underfoot, I'll arrange to create you a place – in the Keyblade Graveyard maybe, where you can guarantee you won't be disturbed unexpectedly – where you can handle it. Your own tower or castle or whatever."

There was silence in the tower following this. I hadn't expected Neku to side against me, or his own argument for my doing this, but given how neatly this all fit together I started to suspect there'd been a conspiracy against me to persuade me.

"Don't be absurd," Neku told me, picking up on that. Yen Sid and Mickey both looked puzzled.

"Never you mind," I told them, then sighed. "Alright, I give up. Obviously I'm not going to stop you from pinning this on me. Since you've all bullied me into this, you can all contribute to getting me set up, otherwise you'll never hear the end of this. You," I pointed to Yen Sid, "Clearly know what has to be done and what I have to do, and all the rest of it. Whatever form you prefer, prepare it, get it together and have it ready for me to peruse before the two of them get there. Neku, go create that tower. Nothing ornate, just what we'll need. Mickey, you can go and fetch them on your way back home."

"There is... one other thing," Yen Sid told me as Neku vanished and Mickey headed for the door. "Mickey! Wait a moment."

"Huh? But-"

"If you leave now you will miss this, and you need to hear it."

"Am I going to like hearing this?" I asked him flatly.

"I cannot say. I do not know you as well as Neku does, but in any case, you will not merely be testing Sora and Riku. Xion will also be joining them."

"Three. You want me to take on three students. If I hadn't already agreed to do this... Go on, Mickey. Go get the three of them, and I hope you're not planning to try and pin Kairi on me as well while I'm at it."

"No. Her time has not yet come," he replied. "But it will, in due course. I will collect the information you will require Liam, and watch the Graveyard from here for the signs that Neku has completed work. Once it is there, I will send it all on to you."

"Just as long as I've got time to look into it _before_ the three of them arrive," I said, heading for the door. "I hope you don't come to regret doing this to me," I added before I left.


	2. Future Masters

In a bid to keep my new students from having to put up with my irritable reaction, Mickey waited for me at the base of Yen Sid's tower and told me he'd give me some time before he actually picked them up. It's probably just as well, since the first thing I did once I got to the Keyblade Graveyard was, full in the knowledge that no one except maybe Terra would hear, shout obscenities, profanities and other such things, most of which I'm fairly certain I'm not allowed to put into a story that a great many people are going to read.

It didn't accomplish much, but it made me feel a bit better and it gave Neku the time he needed to finish work on my very own tower. As I'd said, it was not ornate. I'm not a very big believer in being showy, preferring to keep things practical instead. As a result, my tower ended up being nothing more than a hollow stone tower with a staircase inside allowing access to the various floors.

Neku had helpfully added bedrooms and other such conveniences, which was useful since I had the impression I was going to be here a while.

The top of the tower was where most of the action was, and is, happening. Knowing in advance what I'd likely be doing, Neku had created what appeared to be three large magnifying glasses, each one with the name of one of my students engraved above it. At the moment they were clear, showing the stone wall they were mounted on, but once they were in the realm of sleep they'd be used to keep an eye on them.

In mute concession to the fact that I'd have complained otherwise, Neku had also transplanted my favourite chair and laptop here, and even somehow – I don't want to know how – connected it to the internet. I don't exactly get the best speeds out of it, but given that it's the first time any world in the Lanes Between has ever had internet access, I'm not actually surprised. I was more amazed Neku had got it to work actually, since he's... not exactly skilled with technology.

Beyond that there was little else there. Other chairs scattered about for the guests we'd soon have of course, and after I specifically requested it a central table that mapped all known worlds in the Lanes Between. Readers would have recognised all but a few, the unrecognised ones either falling into the category of 'also added due to me' or 'not yet appearing'.

No I'm not telling you what the ones I made appear are. They're there because I decided to visit them, but much like my own world, they shouldn't actually be there. Neku made a few arrangements to protect them from the various things other worlds have to put up with, so most can't even see them.

There were several floors in the tower that had no real use, designed more to be receptive to my magic so I could create any scenario I wanted, or just outfit them for whatever purpose I needed. One of them quickly saw some use running a few magical simulations so I could get back in practise with my own Keyblade. I couldn't have my students outstripping me now, could I?

Eventually Mickey did stop by, first because he was carrying a hefty tome from Yen Sid, and also because he'd brought along Jiminy, Axel and Demyx, and it was at this point that Mickey made it known that he wanted to chronicle this adventure too.

"It's for the completeness of it," he explained. "Neku already gave me copies of the story you wrote covering your adventures, and another for Roxas too. He said something about editing out certain details, but I've looked through, it's all there."

"The kind of details he edited out wouldn't be noticable," I told him. "I know what they are, they're not important as such."

"Well, if you're sure. Anyway, I asked Jiminy to come along to help ya write it up, keep a journal and all, like always."

"Right," Jiminy agreed, hopping from Mickey's shoulder into my outstretched hand. "But I figure if you've got three students, I'm going to need a few extra pairs of eyes, so I asked the King to bring along a few of our friends to help out."

"And that's why we're here," Axel finished. "Gotta say Liam, this place of yours wasn't what I expected. Thought you'd have something a bit more flashy."

"Next time I have Neku knock up something I'll remember to have him consult you about the design then," I chuckled. "I'm not really bothered by it myself, but I guess I have to keep up appearances."

"You're the reason we're all still around, Liam," Demyx said. "You've gotta have the look too."

"I'll sort something out later. You might as well come on up, there's nothing much on the lower floors. At least not yet. I've not really found anything to put there yet."

"I'll leave ya to it," Mickey said instead. "Now I know you've cooled off a bit, I better go pick up the boys."

"Hey, Mickey," I called to him with a grin. "Surprise 'em. Don't tell them why you need them or where you're taking them. Let me handle it."

"Whatever you say, Liam. Your call." He paused, then added. "But y'know, the twins might call foul for bias."

"Wha- bias? On what?"

Mickey gave me a sly look and just said, "I'm pretty sure I recall a certain comment you made when writing your first story about a crush you have on someone. Who was it now-"

"Yes, alright, thank you!" I interrupted, turning red. "And don't anyone make any jokes about anything going on between a teacher and student!"

"Would we do a thing like that?" Axel asked innocently. Demyx just burst out laughing.

* * *

I admit, I'm not much of a host, particularly when something's on my mind. Also particularly so when I have a book I want to read. Since Yen Sid's book neatly dealt with the issues on my mind, it was near impossible to get my attention.

I thought I had at least some idea of what had to be done, but after just a few pages of that book I started to wonder if I wasn't in over my head. It looked almost like I was going to have to approach things in a completely fresh way, and it also looked like the same would hold true for Sora, Riku and Xion as well.

Furthermore I came to realise that I was going to have to depend heavily on my on magic to prepare them for what lay ahead before I let them anywhere near the Realm of Sleep for which they were headed, and that once they were on the way there it was almost completely out of my hands – except in certain circumstances. Such as say, if one of them was in critical danger.

You see, the Mark of Mastery exam itself is not something predefined as such. Each Master has his or her own way of assessing such things, their own standards and their own choice of trials. Despite this however there are guidelines, a list of points agreed on by previous Masters lost to the depths of history, that define what is and is not permissible. If something unexpected cropped up it was up to the testing Master to decide how to proceed – Eraqus, as is well known, chose not to intervene when Xehanort influenced a part of the test Terra, Aqua and I took, but he could have chosen to call it off and reset.

If a student was to be found imperilled beyond their immediate capabilities and those of any they were with at the time, then again a Master could chose to call it off, or intervene in his own way, so long as the student did not perish due to the circumstances. A test could be done in real-world situations, but it was deemed imperative that such an event not come to pass. Given my friendship with all three of my prospective students, I didn't think I'd have anything to worry about there.

There was however thing I did not like. I knew Sora still held Saisha's book, and though I devoured the rules thoroughly in the hopes I'd find something to the contrary, it seemed it was completely allowed for him to take that book with him and even use it within the Realm of Sleep. I decided to have strong words with him about that – I know I tended to rely on Neku a bit more than was probably good for me, but I was determined not to let him follow that example.

"Hey – nose outta the book," Axel interrupted my reading. "They just arrived. Mickey's dropped them not far from here and left again."

"Away from the windows then everyone. I think I'm going to give them their first test. If Mickey's done what I asked, they have no idea why they're here, who they're seeing or what to expect, they've just been told to come here. I locked the tower doors earlier, and all the ones on the way up as well."

"What for?" Demyx asked me.

"Simple. They'll have to unlock the front doors to get in, of course. Now I'm going to find out how they think. Whether they'll ignore the locked doors on the way up, or if they'll unlock those too to search them. I'm also going to have illusory enemies appear on their way up – a few Heartless, a Nobody or two, maybe even some Unversed to really throw them off. It'll give me a chance to see if they've been keeping in practise, who favours magic, darkness and other such things. Gotta know what I'm dealing with, right?"

"Well make it quick," Demyx said. "They're at the doors already. It looks like the twins are arguing over something."

Sora and Xion, in case you're wondering. It had become a habit among everyone who knew them to tall them the twins, mostly because they delighted in making everyone work to figure out which of them was which.

It didn't take me all that long to create the illusions, which at first glance weren't even there. Arranged to appear just like the real things, only when one of them got close enough. Once they were in place, I locked the door at the top of the staircase, turned on the three looking-glasses for each of them and watched.

"No way, how come you always get to do it," one of the twins was saying.

"'cause I'm the one who woulda got the Keyblade if it hadn't been for Liam," the other, identified by that statement as Sora, replied.

Riku gave an exasperated sigh, called out Way to the Dawn and unlocked the front door. Sora and Xion both turned to him.

"Oh, stop that," he told them. "If I hadn't done anything you'd have argued all day. Are you coming or not?"

They shared a look, then with a Keyblade each the twins followed Riku. They had an interesting choice of Keyblades – Sora of course held Oathkeeper, as he had done ever since Kairi had turned her good luck charm into keychain. I'd used it before then, but it meant more to him.

Xion meanwhile had elected to use Sleeping Lion for his Keyblade's form. Since I'd left the two of them most – not all, but most – of the chains I'd collected along the way, it wasn't surprising to see one of them had it, but I was left intrigued by his choice.

As they ascended the tower I started to get an idea of what they were like. All three of them were a little rusty, having not really had much of a chance to keep in practise and even struggling when faced with three opponents all facing them separately.

Their own fighting styles soon emerged though. Riku, having previously been given access to a wide array of magic by me, favoured its use until he closed in on the phantom enemies, while Sora preferred to balance the two and Xion almost never bothered with it at all.

Xion also had a tendency to lag behind, showing a curiosity about the contents of every room on the way up, at least until Sora came back down and dragged him back up. Riku barely noticed except to complain slightly under his breath.

"Unversed?" Riku exclaimed at one point. "What're they doing back?"

"Aren't they the ones who appeared when Vanitas was around?" Xion asked.

"That's them," Sora agreed, batting an Archraven aside. "They showed up when Liam created a second Vanitas from the Data-Sora too. Some idiot must have copied him." Then he paused for a moment, went, "Huh?" and took out the grass-covered book of his, reading something in it. "Hey, guys! They're not real."

"What? Are you kidding me?" Riku called back down. "They certainly feel real enough when they hit you back."

"Saisha says they're just very well crafted illusions."

"Neku," I murmured.

"Already on it," his voice replied.

"That's strange," Sora went on. "She says she can't tell us anything else because another book just started to interfere."

"Another book, huh?" Riku said thoughtfully. "Anyone else want to guess who's waiting for us up top?"

"He wouldn't be _here_ would he?" Xion replied. "I mean what reason would he have for coming all the way out here?"

"I dunno. One way to find out."

"Sorry Liam," Neku's voice told me. "Best I could do on short notice. I wasn't expecting her to intervene."

"Nah, we should have thought of it," I said. "We still get to surprise them with what they're here for," I went on, watching as they continued to handle the illusory opponents. When the glasses told us they were almost right outside I turned them off, waited and listened.

There was the muffled sound of another argument, ended by Riku's voice raised over them again, "Cut that out, will you? I'll do it again."

"Ah, boys," I greeted them from across the tower room. "Nice of you to join me at last."

"I knew it," Riku smirked.

"Axel! And Demyx too!" Xion exclaimed immediately running to join them.

"Don't forget me now," Jiminy added, pausing in his work on the journal.

"How could we forget you?" Sora asked. "If it weren't for you, we'd never remember what we'd done. But what are you all doing here? Are you here trying to figure out who put this tower here?"

"Nope. Neku put it here, at my request," I explained. "I needed someplace out of the way."

"But what for?"

"You mean you haven't figured it out yet? Riku should know – he overheard me mention it a while back."

Riku looked thoughtful again, then started back. "You? You're gonna..."

"Yep! Congratulations to the three of you. You just became my students."

The surprised looks they wore almost made up for having lost the argument with Mickey and Yen Sid.


	3. The Ceremony

The mere fact that I still at this point had not figured out exactly how to send them to the Realm of Sleep meant I had time to handle a few lessons for each of them before they actually began, along with the formalities that, while I know and appreciate, I still hate. There are people who live for formality, and there are people who just chafe at them. Guess where I fall.

Naturally, Yen Sid and King Mickey both turned up to see the official acceptance, both being masters themselves, even if retired in Yen Sid's case. I rearranged the top of the tower slightly, borrowing an idea from Master Eraqus to arrange for three large chairs – not quite thrones, but definitely more than just a chair – on a raised dais. Axel, Demyx and even, to the surprise of many, Neku himself stood respectfully to one side, with Jiminy perching on Axel's shoulder.

Mickey I noticed was just as ill at ease with the formality as I was, though he bore it far better than I could hope to.

"Stop worrying," he told me at one point, his lips barely moving. "And stop pacing."

"I'm nervous," I said defensively. "Perfectly normal thing."

"You're nervous? You're not the one who should be nervous, Liam."

"You think I don't know that? It's the same every time. Get me in front of people, even people who know me, make me the center of attention and I get nervous. It's why no one ever asks me to make a speech."

"You did write a speech, didn't you?" he asked, sudden concern touching his expression.

"No," I admitted. "I hate speeches as well. They never sound sincere. At least if I make it up as I go along, I'm bound to make someone laugh."

"Liam!" he exclaimed.

"Let him be," Yen Sid chuckled. "This is his ceremony, remember. Let him handle it his own way. He can make mistakes well enough on his own," he added slyly.

"Oh, thanks," I muttered. "What _is_ taking them so long?"

"Same as you, most likely," Mickey said. "They might know what's gonna happen, but they're probably just as nervous as you are." He thought for a moment, then said, "Probably more."

I grumbled a bit more, then at last the tower doors opened and all three entered. Only the twins showed any sign of nerves to them.

It was fortunate enough that they'd picked that moment to enter, as in my pacing I'd stopped before the center chair, which was of course supposed to be reserved for me. I don't believe I actually sat in it once during the entire ceremony though.

While Riku appeared on the surface to be less nervous than the twins, I spotted his eyes constantly flicking around, to those watching from the sidelines, to Mickey and Yen Sid and occasionally to me, showing even he was acutely aware that all attention was on them.

You know that dreadful moment when everyone waits with expectation and you know it's because you've got to perform? I got a moment like that when they stopped before the dais. I didn't like it, but at least I didn't stumble there.

"I see you finally got here," I said with a faint smile, then screwed up my nerves and pushed on. I'd have to make it up as I went along. "You three stand here today, chosen by the Keyblade but not yet proven worthy of the mark of a true Keyblade Master. Though you have each faced trials of your own and fancy yourselves Master already, you are also self-taught wielders, picking up what you needed as you went along. My fellow Masters," I paused to glance back at them. "Have the opinion that to properly test for the Mark of Mastery, one must begin with a clean slate – put aside all you have learned so far and begin anew. While some things must inevitably be done so, I do not share this view.

"Over the next few days I will test you – not for the Mark, but to prepare you for the trials ahead and for situations you may not expect to be in. You may play to your strengths away from here, but in the tests you must expect to be tested on your weaknesses just as equally. Some tests I will tell you about in advance, others will be sprung upon you unawares and some you may not even be aware of, but each of them will be taken in such a way they will be different for each of you."

So far so good, I thought mentally. A few surprised looks, but nothing I hadn't figured as I'd thought of it. The next bit would likely upset at least one of them – it was the only bit I had planned in advance.

"To ensure fairness within your tests," I went on. "I have proofed the entire tower against your magic and, for those of you who have it, your darkness. Neither will function here unless I choose to let it. Your Keyblades will also be exchanged shortly – you will _all_ bear the same Kingdom Key, and no other."

"Hey, you can't do that!" Sora broke in.

"I'm sorry, did you want to take the test or not?" I asked.

"Well, uh... I mean, does it have to be like this?"

"Would you prefer to be tested unfairly? Show me your Keyblades." Once the flashes, two light and one dark, had passed I continued. "Way to the Dawn. The only known Keyblade to be equally of Light and Dark, formed from the dark weapon Soul Eater. Due to its very nature, it makes the darkness easier to wield without putting oneself at risk – a quality not seen in either remaining Keyblade."

Since I had the opportunity I took the chance there and then to change the chain on the end, replacing it with a Kingdom Key. I know, that's supposed to be unique, but hey – I've got Neku on my side here.

I moved along to Sora in the middle. "Oathkeeper – no one can doubt it shows how much Kairi means to you, formed from her own good luck charm. Well balanced, providing to boost to the Drive forms you and I both have. Balanced as it is, it still offers more than the basic Kingdom Key."

It too was replaced.

"The Drive Forms," Sora said thoughtfully. "Will I..."

"No," I answered. "Since you're the only one who actually has them, despite Xion's clothes appearing to match yours, it would be unfair. Of course, once in the Realm of Sleep, that's another matter – but only if the Realm of Sleep permits it."

"The Realm of Sleep, or you?" Riku asked shrewdly.

"You'll have to find that out for yourself," I answered. In truth it would be me, but it'd be a kind of hidden test for them, to see how observant they were.

Then I moved on to Xion. "Sleeping Lion. Considerably stronger than most Keyblades, easier to string together combos with. Not much else to say about it, but of course since it isn't the same as the others..."

"You gotta replace it too," Xion finished. "Fair's fair, after all."

And it too was replaced. All three of them dismissed their replacement Keyblades as I returned back to the top of the dais.

"You see now why it had to be done? Your Keyblades will be returned before you go to the Realm of Sleep, on their own without the other chains, but while I'm testing you, we'll keep it fair. When you are being tested it is highly likely that your actions will obtain new forms for your Keyblades, some of which may be more useful to you than those you've held before. But that time is not now, and I've gone on long enough and probably said everything that needs to be said. So here and now... you are formally accepted as Masters in training. Don't any of you let me down now."

"Would we do a thing like that?" Xion asked, innocense twinkling in his eyes.

"Nah – this'll be a snap," Sora said. "We'll ace it, all three of us together, right?"

"I dunno about that," Riku said with a sly grin. "I bet I can make the mark before you can."

"It's not a competition," I reminded them. "Oh, and one other thing, Sora. Neku's told me he's already had words with your book, but you need to know as well – you won't be able to rely on her, at least for my tests. The Realm of Sleep is another matter, but even so you shouldn't depend on her."

"We're gonna face the same things, right?" Sora asked. "So if they can do it without a book, so can I!"

"You weren't listening, were you?" Xion observed. "He also said he's gonna tailor them to each of us, right?"

"Exactly," I agreed. "Now, lets get this room back to normal again so we can get on with things and so I can serve dinner. Will you two be staying?"

Yen Sid and Mickey shared a look.

"There's ice cream for after," Axel added. "Home made, but no need to ask what flavour."

"Well, if there's ice cream..." Mickey left it hanging.

"My thoughts exactly," Yen Sid agreed. Who knew even he had a soft spot for it?

* * *

It was already late by the time dinner was over and we'd seen Mickey and Yen Sid off, so I decided to hold off on any training until the day after – with the exception of the first lesson, which I'd give to one of them unawares that night.

Because of that, I stayed up late. Late enough that late in the night, Roxas finally returned from his own expedition after being redirected to the tower by Neku. He hadn't been aware of what had been going on until Neku brought him up to speed.

"Enjoy your trip?" I asked as he slumped wearily into a chair.

"Of course. What did you expect?"

"Where did you go?"

"Out and about," he shrugged. "Several worlds. Dropped in to see Hayner and the gang. Seifer said to remind you, you owe him a Struggle match. Winter tournament is in two weeks."

"I'm sure I can get the boys on their way before then," I decided. "There isn't actually that much I want to test them on before I send them to the Realm of Sleep."

"Neku said you'd got roped in to handling that. I gather you didn't take it well."

"I got bullied into it. Even Neku ganged up against me for it. Mickey and I had a bit of a disagreement about how I should do it – he and Yen Sid both think I should start with a clean slate before I try to teach them anything – but he's at least agreed that since the pushed this on me, they have to respect my choices about it."

"So they should. When're you gonna start with them?"

"Tonight – for one of them, at least. I've had a little idea. They're probably going to hate me for it, but if they don't learn to handle surprise situations, they won't be prepared if and when it happens."

"That's cruel," he said, chuckling all the same. He knew exactly what I had in mind, but then he _is_ my Nobody. "Sora," he said after a moment. "His reaction should be priceless. If you don't mind, I'll watch from here."

"Sure thing. I'll turn on the view-thing... whatever it's called, I don't know. Neku made them, he probably knows."

The door creaked just then, letting Axel in.

"Oh, hi Roxas," he said absently. "Can I have a moment, Lee?"

"Go ahead," I replied. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I am though," Roxas said. "I think I'll go find the room Neku said he left for me. There's a few things I want to drop off, and if I've got time I want to have a quick nap before I watch you scare the living daylights out of Sora."

Axel watched him leave, taking a chair himself. "Something I'm missing?" he asked.

"Just the first trial I'm going to spring unexpectedly on him. Nothing to worry about. What's on your mind?"

"You know I talked to Yen Sid just before he left, right?"

"I saw," I said. "You got fairly animated."

"I didn't want to push this on you what with everything else, but he kinda insisted. Anyway, I've given this a lot of thought, and I've decided. I want to learn to wield a Keyblade, Liam."

"It isn't exactly something you learn Axel. In most cases, the Keyblades chose their own, or accept the judgement of those who perform the Inheritance ceremony. It can be done, don't get me wrong. I'm just not entirely sure how."

"Yen Sid suggested you look it up in that book he gave you. Said you could find it in the index."

"Either he knew you'd ask, or he wanted to make sure I'd be ready for anything," I muttered, marking the page that I'd been reading then turning to the index. It didn't take me long to find it, and after I'd skimmed a few paragraphs of the pages it directed me to, I started to pick up an idea.

"Right," I said. "Keyblades have also been known to respect those with a strong heart, although it mentions other unknown conditions. Personally I don't doubt you qualify, but since you've decided you want to learn and not inherit, it's not up to me. So first, lets see what the Keyblade thinks of you right now." I summoned my own Keyblade, Gilded Light, and extended it to him.

"You... want me to take it?" he said with some surprise. "Liam, this is..."

"I know. Take it Axel. Forget your doubts, stay calm and just take it from me."

Axel took a deep breath, then when he felt ready he extended his hand. I changed my grip so he could take it, handing it over to him.

Normally Keyblades return almost instantaneously to their owners when they find themselves in the hands of someone who isn't considered worthy, but Gilded Light remained in Axel's hand for some time before it finally vanished and came back to me.

"I didn't just imagine that, did I?" he asked tentatively. "It _did_ stay for a while, right?"

"You're right, it did. I think that means you're likely on your way, but not quite there yet. I'll read up some more on this and see what I come up with."

"Right. Thanks Liam. Would you... keep this quiet for now?"

"Of course. I'll leave it up to you."

"Thanks again," he said, then yawned and added, "I think I can finally get to sleep now."


	4. Sora's Surprise

At Roxas's suggestion, I paid a quiet call on Sora that night for the first lesson, just as I'd planned. Waking someone in the night is cruel, but it also presents a situation where they have the least control and therefore the most surprise.

Against complaints, I'd split up Sora and Xion – once I finally told them apart by the simple act of stealing Xion's jacket. Not that it changed much, since they both still acted alike, but at least we knew which was which.

So I snuck into Sora's room on silent feet, knowing full well that while he's prone to taking naps, he's also a light sleeper and could be woken too soon if I wasn't careful. Now, what best to confront Sora with?

Since the entire tower itself was made to respond to my magic as needed, what would normally be more complex turned into a trivial matter, concealing myself in one illusion while making it appear – and not just appear, but sound and smell – as if the room was on fire. That illusion was held in place until I was ready for him to notice it, creating an oddly frozen flame in the room.

Then I added certain extras to the room. Nothing elaborate – water bottles scattered about just out of reach of the fire in varying shapes and sizes, followed by – thanks to a previous visit I'd paid to Merlin – a spell in item form, like the pre-made spells Sora is supposed to collect normally. Only this one contained a spell I'd come up with – Growth. I'd pushed the limits of pre-made spells with this, allowing it to achieve a different effect depending on what it was used on.

Dealing with the fire in any way would be a passing mark, of course. The outstanding grade would be if he noticed the spell on the bedside table, picked it up and used it with any one of the bottles, thus causing the water inside to multiply and extinguish the flame in short order. Attention to detail is just as important as how you react under pressure and in surprise.

Then once I was satisfied, I released the illusions, watched and waited. Sora continued to sleep for a few minutes before the scent of smoke reached him, then his brow creased as his mind struggled to wake up. It creased further as I nudged the fire into making louder crackles, then at last he shot upright and stared about.

The first thing anyone does in such a situation of course is yell, "Fire!" Which he did. Fortunately I'd had the foresight to make sure no one outside, unless they were watching with the all-seeing eyeglasses upstairs, would notice. I couldn't have interference in a test, could I?

He realised the fire was between him and the door, and to his credit did not even think of running to the window. He was at least five floors up, which of course meant that was out of the question.

Then though he'd only just been roused, he noticed a nearby bottle.

"Not gonna do enough by itself," he reasoned out loud, continuing to look around. "Wait a moment... these weren't here before. A test, then?" he reached out to the fire, drawing his hand back quickly with an absent Cura. "But it feels real enough!"

Still overlooking the spell right next to him, he looked thoughtful, rescuing some of the water that was closer to the fire, then collecting it all together on his bed. I nudged the fire a little closer.

"Wait. Cura worked. What if...?" he trailed off, looking first to the water, then to the door, eyes narrowed thoughtfully. He froze the water in the bottles with a few spells, then tossed one into the fire.

I'm no expert, so I can't say if what happened next is supposed to happen or not. Obviously I improvised, causing the water bottle to burst spraying frozen and rapidly melting ice randomly about. I put out some of the flames, but to him it would have looked like it was too unpredictable to chance it.

Instead he tossed a second, larger one down, which reacted similarly and covered a wider area, but still left a lot of fire between him.

"There's gotta be an easier way out?" he said, frustrated, casting about the room again – and at last spotted the spell. Like all such spells, one touch is all it takes to absorb the spell and learn it. "Huh... if I hadn't frozen the water, I could use this. But I got all this fire right here..."

Sora picked a bottle at random, taking the cap off this time and holding it as close as he dared to the still slowly encroaching fire. Ice probably doesn't melt as quickly as his did, but I'm allowed to cheat. To him it still probably felt like it took too long, but at last he figured he had enough water to cast the Growth spell into it. The water in the bottle erupted like a fountain as it multiplied, and after a few surprised moments he managed to direct it and soak the fire, the room, and by sheer chance me as well, removing most of the fire before it finally wore off and left him without enough water.

"I think that's enough," I said, cancelling the illusions, which had the convenient benefit of drying off everything soaked by the illusory water. "Not bad. I thought you'd lose your head a bit more in a sudden crisis."

"I _thought_ it was a test! But the fire-"

"All illusions. I've grown fairly skilled with them lately," I explained.

"The spell too?" he asked.

"No, that was real. Now, just one thing Sora. Don't tell the others. They'll get their surprise tests too, but don't give anything away."

"You woke me in the middle of the night for a crisis that wasn't real, and now you want me to keep it quiet?" he demanded.

"I did warn you I'd test you unexpectedly. You kept your head in a surprise situation, even if you did overlook the spell at first."

"I'm never gonna get back to sleep after this," he complained.

"It just so happens I have some sleep magic too," I offered.

"Just don't leave me to oversleep," he grumbled. "Middle of the night and all."

* * *

I'd have tested another that night, but even I need my sleep. I left Roxas having his own look into Yen Sid's book after he'd decided to stay up and find out more. Personally I think he's looking for justification of a certain claim he makes, which is that as my Nobody, he doesn't need to be checked for the Mark of Mastery because he can just nick mine.

Whatever he was looking for, he'd gone to bed when I got up, and to the surprise of no one except Jiminy half an hour later, I was the first one up.

"I had the strangest dream last night," he confided in me, tucking into some buttered toast I'd used the opposite of Growth on for him.

"Oh? What happened?"

"Well, it was as if my whole room was on fire," he said. "Except it didn't look like my room, and Sora was there. And you too – you were testing him."

"Strange. I did give him that test last night, but I don't see why you'd dream about it. Are you up yet, old friend?"

"No, I'm off somewhere chasing moonbeams," Neku replied with a yawn, appearing nearby. He doesn't actually need to sleep, but sometimes he acts as if he does anyway. "You can thank me for it," he went on. "I figured you'd want a way to find out what Lee got up to while you were sleeping. Sorry I didn't tell you in advance, but I didn't expect him to wake Sora that late at night."

"Well, if it keeps me up to date, I'm sure I can bear with it. Just give me a chance to add it to the journal, won't you?"

"Sure thing. I need a word with you anyway, Neku."

"There's a surprise," he muttered sardonically, taking a seat at the table and creating a bowl of porridge for himself. Again, not something he needs. Just a way of seeming more human, I guess.

"I've still gotta look up how to send them to the Realm of Sleep, but I figure all three of them might need a little nudge in the right direction occasionally. I thought you might want to go with Sora, since he'll still have Saisha with him."

"Sound enough reasoning. Who're you sending with the others?"

"Who else? I'll have to borrow your extra eyes, Jiminy. They'll get a first-hand view of things though, so it works out. The point is though, you'll still be able to keep in touch with me Neku. I've got your book after all. But I need a way for Axel and Demyx to get a line out in case they need something from us out here."

"So you want to be able to help out indirectly, but only in the first world and only if they need it, right?" Neku asked. "I'm sure I can figure something out. Anyway, what are you thinking of getting up to today?"

"Some basic training," I shrugged. "More normal stuff than last night. They all need a little guidance, or I think so anyway. Sora's style is lagging behind where you and I arranged for him to remember going along with us, but never actually did. Xion rarely bothers with magic, so that's a given point."

"And Riku?" Jiminy asked. "He sure looked like he had a good balance going. I didn't see any darkness to him though."

"Right. Sora and Xion don't have much, though Xion does have some he's never touched, but Riku has the advantage that he, like me, knows the gift of keeping himself safe while he uses it, and he doesn't have my disadvantage of the glass cannon."

"Glass cannon?"

"He means his tendency to lose control of his darkness when he's under pressure and not paying attention properly," Neku translated. "You want to be careful though, Liam. Make sure the reason he's not using it isn't because he isn't comfortable with it."

"It's a part of him, Neku," I pointed out. "Once you've used it, it's difficult not to again – that's always been the most dangerous aspect of it. He knows how to keep it under control, but it leaves him susceptible to anyone who has power over the darkness – like Xehanort, in all his incarnations."

"And as you keep saying, a weapon you're reluctant to use might as well be in enemy hands," Neku finished. "I guess you do have a point. Just be careful with it, I don't want to have to alter reality again because one of you went too far and lost him to the darkness."

"I'll keep it in mind. I think I'm also going to teach them a few spells too, like the Growth one last night. Expand the repetoire from the basics a bit."

"So much for the clean slate Yen Sid wanted," Neku observed. "You really don't agree with that, do you?"

"No. It's absurd. If you've taught yourself you'll have a few bad habits, but that's part of what the training is for. There's absolutely no sane reason why you should throw everything out just to do it right."

"Has anyone told you that you're stubborn?"

"Many times," I replied. "I've got plenty of bad habits, but you don't see them telling me to start fresh. One of you boys run down and wake up Axel and Demyx," I called, spotting all three of them wander in looking sleepy, with Sora even more so. Riku mumbled something to them and headed out again.

Once Sora and Xion had been at the table for a few minutes, Sora staved off a yawn, then told me, "Told them already. Seems only fair."

"Fair enough," I shrugged. "I'll just have to change what I have planned for their surprise tests, won't I?"

"Told you he'd say that," Xion said. "Got any marmalade?"

"Marmalade?" Sora asked. "Since when do you like that?"

"I dunno. I just wanted to try some. Maybe I'll like it where you don't."

The twins aren't quite as similar as most think once you get to see them at certain times. And I was going to get to see a lot of them.

At least I knew no matter what I set them, they'd share that with each other. It just meant I'd have to be smarter and come up with different kinds of surprises.


	5. Riku's Revelation

After I'd finished serving breakfast and had my own, I left Neku to keep an eye on everyone else while I prepared for the first group lesson. This gave me more than a few doubts, since I know I'm hardly the worlds best teacher. As is already known, most of my plans are made up as I go along, and I tend to lose patience with people who can't keep up with me.

Nevertheless, Yen Sid had seen fit to drop this neatly on me, so I at least had to try. I even planned out a rather basic idea of what I intended to do, even going so far as to track down and challenge Terra's dormant armour once again to get a feel for what it's like taking on a properly trained Keyblade Master. Which, since he'd had time to think over my previous battle with him and learn from it, was much more challenging than before. I won, but it was a close matter for a while.

Once I had everything I felt I needed I converted one room into a facsimile of the Land of Departure, the outside area where Eraqus' students would have spent most of their time training and also the location I'd literally dropped in on them when Xigbar had sent me back in time.

Since Neku, out of habit, keeps an eye on me no matter where he is or what he's doing, all it took was a few words to the otherwise empty room that prompted everyone to troop downstairs and into the classroom. Which aside from the door back to the tower, looked for all the world like it was outside. Sometimes I'm so good at illusions I manage to surprise myself.

"Alright," I said as the trio joined me. Axel and Demyx took a nearby bench with Jiminy once again perched on Axel's shoulder. Neku simply vanished, much like Roxas except that Roxas rejoined me instead. "Now you're all here, lets begin."

"Just a moment," Xion said, still looking about in puzzlement. "Where are we?"

"Inside my tower, of course."

"But I can't see any walls. Just the door."

"Duh," Sora said, rolling his eyes. "It's another illusion."

"A very good one at that," Riku added with a hint of admiration. "I can't even tell where the walls are. But what place is this really?"

"The Land of Departure," I answered. "The world currently known as Castle Oblivion. This is where Aqua, Terra and Ventus all trained under Master Eraqus. In a way, the place everything began. Any other questions?"

"How about 'What are we doing first'?" Sora suggested.

"First we're going to focus on your technique," I replied. "I'll test each of you in a mock battle using nothing but the Keyblades and give you a bit of critique – something to work with. This room will always be here to look like this, and until I send you to the Realm of Sleep you're welcome to come back and train here."

"And after that?" Xion asked.

"Then we'll move on to alternative means of fighting – magic, darkness – for those of you who have it, at least – unarmed and alternative weapons."

"You can't fight unarmed," Xion protested. "Especially not against creatures like the Heartless!"

"But you won't be facing Heartless unless I've called them up for you to battle, and even they will merely be illusions. Also consider this," I said, gesturing to the air nearby to cause a scene to appear, showing Radiant Garden when it had fallen into the crossfire between Maleficent and the Organization.

It showed Tifa, who had just missed Cloud only to be surrounded by Armoured Knights. Though she carried no weapon, the few who strayed close were swiftly dispatched with several powerful blows.

"He's gotta point," Riku conceded as the image flickered out again. "It'd be useful to do that, but I can't see many times when it'd come in useful."

"That doesn't mean it's not necessary though. What if for whatever reason you cannot use your Keyblade? At least two of you would be alright, but only until you ran out of magic. What then? You have darkness Riku, but even that carries its share of risks. Even you can't rely on it forever."

Riku looked troubled at the mere mention of his darkness, reminding me of what Neku had said earlier that morning. I was definitely going to have to do something about that.

"So, now you know what you're in store for, who'd like to be first?" I asked.

"You go first Sora," Riku said. "If you fail terribly, we'll just stay here and laugh."

"Oh, thanks," Sora muttered. "How about you, Xion – you didn't touch magic at all when we broke into his tower, and if it's Keyblades alone, you're clearly best at that."

Xion looked at me thoughtfully – apparently harmless looking at a glance with a slightly vague smile, but all three of them knew this concealed more experience than all of them combined.

"You're not gonna play fair, are you?" he asked eventually.

"Your enemies won't, so why should I?" I replied. "I will place the same restrictions on myself as I have on you though – no magic or darkness, nothing out of the ordinary except for the Keyblades."

"Key_blades_," Xion said with emphasis. "You're gonna use two again."

"Is that a problem?" I asked benignly.

"No," he replied, calling his Kingdom Key to hand and stepping forward. Sora and Riku prudently backed away. "I just wanted to know what I was up against, that's all."

I responded in kind, simply drawing out Gilded Light in my right hand, and still my favourite Keyblade of them all, Oblivion for the left. Riku and I once had a loud argument over who should have the chain for that particular Keyblade. Which he lost, obviously.

"In your own time then, and don't worry about actual harm. I'll give you a while where I'll just defend before I start retaliating for real."

Xion didn't pay much attention to that except to set himself ready for a fight, holding his Keyblade in both hands, then charge for me. I'd expected all three of them to do this, and had prepared accordingly depending on the possible opening attacks.

He chose to raise his Keyblade as he closed and strike down, met easily by raising Gilded Light to intercept it. He put a lot of force behind the strike, pushing down hard, but I twisted Gilded Light to one side and slid Oblivion up it, shoving his Kingdom Key off.

Now he went for a lower strike to one side, avoided instead of blocked by a quick step in the same direction. Again Gilded Light moved to intercept the follow-through, and it harmlessly clanged off with a shower of star-shaped sparks.

Again he attempted to strike out, this one aimed upward, but with an interesting tactic – he let go with his left hand as he struck, keeping his strike moving even as he continued to try and get around behind me. A neat idea, I had to admit, but ultimately handled the same way – the strike was intercepted by Oblivion as I stepped quickly around to face him again.

Xion brought his Keyblade back into both hands and lunged this time, avoiding both my Keyblades but missing me entirely because it's a fairly obvious tactic and one easily avoided by stepping back once again.

He took a few steps back himself and took a moment to pause thoughtfully. When he attacked again it appeared to mimic his first strike, a downward blow, but this time as I lifted one Keyblade to meet it he stopped, rose the descending Keyblade up further with a change of angle and brought it down smartly on my own head. Oblivion had been brought to intercept it as soon as I realised the ploy but I hadn't been able to react quick enough.

Fortunately that same movement prevented Xion from landing a second blow so quickly, and figured that since he'd deftly scored the first strike his amnesty was over. He leapt back as I swung Gilded Light at him, staggering back slightly with my head still ringing from the blow.

Once I'd shook it off I went on the offensive instead, despite my advantage with two Keyblades, never using both at the same time and always leaving an opportunity – or at least one I could see. I'd swing one but hold the other back, allowing him to block the first then as it was withdrawn quickly handle the other as well. Like him I struck at varying angles and directions, some he managed to avoid or block and others not so easily so.

Then I showed them all a possibility he had yet to consider, making a high strike down like Xion's own but deliberate, leaping up as he raised his Keyblade to block it and using that force to propel me up and over him. I turned swiftly as soon as I landed and scored several blows on his unprotected back before he finally managed to stop.

He tried to attack back, but now I was in full form I used attacking itself as a form of defence, using it to keep him at bay. After a while I dismissed both Keyblades, ending the test. Xion was breathing hard from the exertion – we both were, but him significantly more so.

"Not bad," I admitted. "Some nice moves. I certainly wasn't expecting you to change your attack so quickly like that."

"I'm glad you liked it," he breathed. "I came up with it on the spot."

"A good idea – never neglect moves you come up with at that kind of time. They might not be as well thought out, but they do have their benefits at times. You've got some nice strength behind you, not too bad for speed. You might want to consider staying flexible, giving up a little power to react more quickly. When you block, you don't need to force the attack back – hold it off only as long as you need to prevent it, then move on."

"I'll keep it in mind. I don't really do defence much though."

"I noticed. You'll want to work on that. Take a break, Xion," I told him, absently healing him with a silently cast spell. Sora looked slightly envious of that. "Who'd like to try me next?"

"I will," Riku said. "But, I have a condition for you."

"You're going to propose conditions to me, Riku? That's bold. What do you have in mind?"

"When you and I were fighting Xen, just after defeating Xemnas, you arranged for me to wield two Keyblades. I've only ever owned one, so after that I never got the chance to make use of it again."

"And now you do, to keep it more fair?"

"I dunno about fair," he admitted. "You'll still have the advantage, because I'm not as good at it as you are. But I want the chance, at least."

I gave it some thought. It'd be interesting, that was for sure. To my knowledge, no one outside of him, Roxas and I have ever taken up two Keyblades, and even then Roxas and I could only do it because of Ventus.

I'd never actually gone against another opponent with two Keyblades either, except for Roxas when he challenged me and even then for most of that fight he came up with alternative tactics.

"Alright," I agreed. "Neku, if you wouldn't mind creating us a fourth Kingdom Key for him, we'll see how this turns out."

"Hold out your other hand," Neku's voice sounded, not far from Riku. He obliged, and a second Kingdom Key flashed into it.

"Just one thing though, Liam," Riku said with a sudden smile. "I said I never got the chance to make use of it – not in a real fight, at least. But sometimes when I challenged one of them two, the other lent me their Keyblade."

"Sly little sneak," I laughed. "You're not quite as inexperienced as I thought, and I can't say no now I've agreed to it. Same rules then, Riku – attack me if you can, and I'll give you time before I strike back."

"Anyone else wanna place bets on the outcome of this?" I heard Axel say to Demyx. "This should be interesting."


	6. Full of Surprises

Unlike Xion, Riku did not open with a straight-forward charge. He took a more wary approach, as if expecting me to attack despite my warning I'd give him time before that. He took a few experimental strikes with each Keyblade, testing my defences and reactions, learning which Keyblade I used to block from what angle and suchlike.

When he appeared to have learned what he wanted or just felt he'd got all he could, he started attacking for real, starting with the overhand strike Xion had caught me out with. Unsurprisingly, I'd grown wary of this, halting the strike in its tracks.

Riku struck low with his remaining Keyblade to catch me in the side while my attention was diverted holding back the upper Keyblade. It was his off-hand as well, meaning it lacked much of the force he'd put behind the other one, but it nevertheless struck true.

He learned from what I'd said to Xion as well, removing the upper Keyblade from mine as soon as he no longer needed it there, quickly bringing it back down to strike at the other side similarly. That at least I was able to avoid, keeping a more wary watch on his remaining Keyblade for the same trick again.

Riku had other ideas though, suddenly and unexpectedly dismissing the first Keyblade before it struck Oblivion only to summon it back as soon as he judged it was clear. Again he managed to catch my side, this time with more force and lower too. He brought it back sharply, twisting it so the teeth of the key caught on the back of my knee and caused leg to buckle beneath me.

That in turn threw me off balance and allowed him to neatly strike down on each Keyblade in turn, divesting me of Oblivion entirely, though I kept my grip on Gilded Light, striking out in an attempt to force him to back away while I regained my balance. This strike was avoided simply as he moved quickly to my unarmed side.

I figured this meant he'd worn out his amnesty and was ready to face me fighting back, so as I reached over to intercept one attack I recalled Oblivion, twisting to ensure I continued to face him. Riku kept moving and striking, forcing me to take a more defensive pose.

He stole another idea from Xion, lunging for me instead. Interestingly he chose to use his offhand Keyblade for that, keeping his main one ready to handle anything I threw at him, but the lunge left him more open on his left. I quickly dodged to that side, already striking down. He'd thought of that though, pulling back from the lunge and, to sounds of surprise, managed to twist in mid-jump to vault right over my Keyblade.

He might have accounted for that, but I doubt he figured for my response – I simply dismissed the Keyblade that I'd attempted to attack with, tossed Oblivion to my main hand and brought it sharply up, catching him full in the back and causing him to stumble as he landed. It took only a few moments for me to retrieve Gilded Light, though in my other hand now, and attack full-out on his unprotected rear before he finally backed off and dismissed his own Keyblades, signalling an end.

Mind out of the gutter. Not _that_ kind of rear. I do have a boyfriend, you know.

"Thought I had you for a moment there," Riku breathed, trying to reach for several aches on his back.

"Certainly surprised me," I answered, casting Curaga more because it would catch both of us. More efficient use of magic, and I needed it too this time. "You kept me thinking at least. You came up with some nice tricks there, and you're not half bad with two."

"I think that means he's impressed," Sora remarked. "Trust you to set the bar high for me."

"You had your chance to go first," Riku told him. "And then you passed it up. Your own fault. Alright Lee, what've I gotta do?"

I considered it. He'd given me more to think about and certainly come up with some interesting ideas. From my perspective it was hard to actually pick out anything he needed to work on as such.

"Well, you've certainly learned from the points I laid out for Xion, that's for sure," I conceded eventually. "With two Keyblades using offence as your defence worked nicely. Keep in mind some of those ideas you pulled off aren't going to work when you're outnumbered, but we'll cover that another time. Definitely watch out for attacks coming from behind you though – all it took was one well-places strike there and I got a nice chain of attacks there before you finally managed to get clear."

"I don't have eyes in the back of my head you know," he protested.

"I'm not saying you need them, just be aware that you've got a hole in your defences there. Well, Sora? Ready to take your turn?"

"After that?" he asked. "Are you kidding me? I'm not gonna do any better."

"It's not a question of doing better. Its a chance to find out what you need to work on."

"It's probably just the same as Xion."

"You're not getting out of it, Sora," I told him. "We're not going to progress until you've taken your turn. Fair is fair."

"But you're not playing fair," he said triumphantly.

"Life in general isn't fair."

"You compromised for Riku when it came to the Keyblades. Why shouldn't I do the same?"

"Because you can't use two, of course," Riku supplied.

"I know that," Sora dismissed the point. "That's the whole point. Why should you get to wield two if I can't? You still have the benefit of experience and all that even with just one. So how about a little unfairness on _your_ side as well?"

I don't think Sora actually expected to achieve anything, but I figured he did have a good point.

"Alright," I agreed and dismissed Oblivion. "Point well made. Now we're both handicapped in some way. You've got your compromise, now take your turn."

Now it was Riku's time to get clear as Sora charged me similar to Xion, though he held his Keyblade one-handed as opposed to Xion's doublehanded grip. He struck out on my unarmed side, attempting to try a similar tactic to Riku, but without Oblivion I was able to move more swiftly to block the strike.

Sora remembered the points I'd laid out for Xion, removing his Keyblade almost before it had been caught by mine and bringing it back, up and over. Where he had to take it back to avoid me, I was able to simply raise the Keyblade up to meet the strike as it came down.

He re-aimed, bringing it past my Keyblade and hold on it in an attempt to bypass it and attack the other side, then as I again moved to intercept he changed an idea he'd picked up from Riku's trial, causing his Keyblade to vanish and reappear in his other hand – which was already swinging down toward my unprotected side.

This however left nothing between me and where the Keyblade had been, and his strike was also aimed high. A step to one side, ducking down beneath his Keyblade as late as I dared leave it.

Sora reacted to this similarly, returning the Keyblade to his first hand again and striking down on my own back, almost forcing me to the ground had I not used my own Keyblade as a support, allowing my to straighten back up despite aches and lash out in return, striking swiftly up not at his descending Keyblade but just above the handle itself. The force at that low point shocked the Keyblade from his grasp senting it spinning skyward.

He called it back to him quickly, but by that point I already had my Keyblade pointed at his chest.

"Can't fault me for trying," he said. "But you left yourself open that time."

"I just wasn't expecting your response, that's all. I'd say you'd need to watch out for being disarmed like that again, but the same holds true for all three of you there. Watch out for it, and if you are disarmed have a back-up plan to tide you over until you retrieve it. Now, Sora, since your one ended fairly quickly there, do you want another go?"

"Nah, I'm good. What next?"

"Next I think I'm going to take a break of my own," I decided, turning to Xion and Riku. "And while I am, you two can test yourselves against each other. One Keyblade only though, Riku – you won that point against me, but you can keep it fair between yourselves. Oh, one other thing though – don't forget to be wary of unexpected surprises. You still never know when I might spring one on you."

"And me?" Sora asked.

"You just finished one fight, you can take a break before one of them challenges you. Keep watching them though, you might learn something else from them. You can learn a great deal by watching others."

I left them to fight, casting another brief spell on myself to clear the ache in my back from Sora's attack while I joined the remaining others.

"Your students caught you out once or twice there," Axel observed. "Sure you're not the one who needs training?"

"It just shows they're able to adapt on the spot, that's all," I replied.

Neku watched Xion and Riku fight with something that looked like amusement. "Gotta give you a message from Mickey, by the way," he told me. "I wasn't watching him, but I know when my friends speak my name. He wanted me to let you know he's planning to spring a surprise of his own on Sora by bringing Kairi here."

"I wonder," I murmured aloud, glancing over to Sora. "Maybe it's time I prepared their lessons in magic. I learned a thing or two about turning spells into items, and a few other things. It'll test their observation too."

"You did hear, didn't you?" Neku asked.

"Of course. I'm just having a few ideas. If they don't pay attention, they could end up with unexpected results. Speaking of which, I think it's time I spring one."

I glanced over at Riku, and out of a bad habit I got into when visiting one of the worlds I added to the Lanes Between, snapped my fingers to cause a spell to take action. A small one, based entirely on another illusion.

Riku quite suddenly found himself wielding a frilly pink umbrella, which opened up as he struck down.

All three of my students stopped and stared. Xion burst out laughing.

"Oh very funny, Liam," Riku sighed, then looked at it critically. "I suppose I should be glad it's not something else, knowing you."

"Like what?" I asked with my best benign smile. Riku turned slightly red. "Oh, something like that? I can't imagine why you'd think I'd do that."

Riku turned even more red. "Can I have my Keyblade back now?" he asked plaintively.

"Are you sure you don't want something else?" I offered.

He dismissed the Keyblade, leaving the illusion hanging in the air for a moment before it faded out, and stalked off muttering to himself animatedly.

"Spoilsport," Neku remarked.


	7. Mind the Magic

While I was busy preparing for some lessons in magic and observation – mostly the latter – I left Neku, Axel and Jiminy watching everyone else. I'm told Neku, who for reasons I never understood managed to persuade Mickey to entrust the Kingdom Key D to him, decided to play with them as well, though I didn't stay to see it myself.

My preparations made in a different room, were far simpler than the first ones. A simple square room with three identical tables on, each one soon to have a collection of items on – some of them spells, others of them traps.

It was something Merlin had come up with, but due to his benign nature had never had a use for. Out of completeness, when I'd taken some time to visit him and learn a bit more about magic, he'd shown me how.

The difference is plainly obvious if you know what you're looking for. A spell in item form is a sphere with four coloured tabs, each aligned to create a perfect circle over the sphere's surface, at least in one dimension.

A magic trap on the other hand looks very similar, but with two key differences. The tabs do not match the predominant colour of the sphere unlike an item, and there are six of them – the extra two creating another circle with two of the existing ones. Otherwise, they look exactly the same.

Aside from Xion, whose magical capabilities on the surface appeared to be much less developed than Sora's or Riku's, all three of them had more or less the same abilities. While Riku normally has never really been one for magic, I'd passed a copy of all the spells I had by the time I'd defeated Xemnas to him, including a few that the others didn't have. Many of them had high costs to them though, and he rarely touched them because of this.

With this in mind I created several spells, keeping each of the tables identical – except for the trap, which would affect each of them differently, and with potentially very humourous results. None of them would last, of course – that wouldn't be nice of me, after all – but they would bother each of them.

There were four real spells to each of them. Mini and Poison were both taught to me by Merlin, the former shrinking all enemies within range to make them take massive damage and allow others to stomp on them, while the latter obviously drained the health of afflicted enemies.

The other two were creations of my own magic. Flare Chain would catch the nearest enemy on the end of a chain of blazing fire. This would not only damage it, but as long as it was still alive a hint of gravity-based magic allowed the user to swing it around, not only into potential enemies, but causing the fire chain to expand with each successive swing. The chain itself would sear any enemy it caught too, making it a devastatingly effective spell when used correctly.

This was joined by Vortex, originally just an alteration of Aero magic but after a bit of work it became a spell in its own right. Cast it and draw all enemies in through a howling hurricane, drawing up any loose debris in the area to batter away at them while there, then simply ride the winds yourself. The nature of the spell causes the wind to carry you along at will and guide debris around you, allowing you to soar through the hurricane toward whichever enemy you want.

Both of these two spells were heavy on magic, that much was certain. On the other hand, there were situations where both of them could be used to great effect. It was up to them to find the right ways, times and places for this.

Each of them had their own colour, of course. Mini was yellow, while Poison naturally was purple. Flare Chain was a raging orange. Vortex was a silver-white. The three trap spells, carefully crafted to blend in as best I could despite their differing effects, were all blue with bright green tabs.

Then to really test their observation, I added a sign on the wall that would be behind them as they faced the tables that explained the differences between a magic trap and an item-spell. The idea was that they'd come in and not notice it, since I'd be on the other side of the tables to them. How many of them would think to look around?

"Are they done in there?" I asked, satisfied I'd done what I needed. The silence coming back was slightly unnerving. "Neku? Don't tell me you're not paying attention."

"Sorry, Lee," his voice came at last. "Just let me finish up and I'll send them along."

"Finish up? What are you up to?"

"Xion and Sora started fighting and Riku was looking left out, so I challenged him myself. He's a tough nut, but I guess that's what I get for tangling with your students. He doesn't have your flair though."

"Fascinating, old friend. Do you suppose you could stop playing and let me move on?"

"It's a bit of harmless-" he broke off. "Alright, _that_ wasn't so harmless."

"Neku!"

"Alright, alright. We're coming. And in case you're wondering, Mickey and Kairi are likely to show up probably just about when you're finishing up with this lesson. I hope you plan to stop for lunch."

"Of course I do, I'm not some kind of slave driver you know."

Neku didn't answer that, but he did appear in the doorway with my three students in tow. Riku looked in better humour, treating Neku to a wicked little grin as he passed.

The three of them didn't need prompting to take a table each, though I noticed as expected they completely overlooked the sign behind them. Neku leaned beside it, taking care not to obscure it once he realised what it was with a sly look at me.

"Don't touch them just yet," I warned, seeing Sora reach for one of the spells. "Anyone tell me what they are?"

Sora said nothing – I _knew_ he knew, but it looked like he was giving them the chance to answer.

"Never seen anything like these," Xion remarked.

"Aren't these spells?" Riku asked, warily eyeing the trap among his, though probably by coincidence only.

"They are," Sora agreed. "Liam and I collected them every time we learned a new spell before now. But I don't recognise any of these."

"That's because these spells are all ones you don't know yet. Don't touch them!" I said again as Xion reached for one. "Wait until I tell you so! Now then. Each of the tables before you has an identical collection. Four of them are real spells, contained in item-form. Those spells, if you reach out to them, will appear to be absorbed into you, instantly teaching you a new spell. Hidden among them however is one that is _not_ a spell, but a trap. Take this one, and the spell contained within will affect you instead. You must use your powers of observation to tell them apart. Everything you need to tell them apart is within this room."

None of them, I noticed, looked around. Neku looked even more amused.

"One last thing before you reach for them," I went on. Xion sighed. "Because, as you've noticed, they're all identical I'm going to make one small addition." I raised both hands, causing a new stone wall to rise up between them, hiding them from each other's view, but still not concealing the tell-tale sign behind them. "These walls also prevent you _hearing_ each others reactions, so if one of you finds the trap, you can't alert each other. Ready now?" I asked. Xion was definitely enthusiastic about this one, despite the potential trap.

I finally let them go right ahead with this little test. It only took a few moments, but since there are three of them to cover I'll handle each of them separately.

Riku was the most cautious of the three. Knowing that if he touched one it would trigger either a new spell or the trap, he made sure he didn't come into contact with them at all, otherwise examining them in great detail.

After a few moments thought he leaned over and seemed to spot the additional tabs on the trap, touching each of the other four. Even without needing the sign to prompt him, the evidence was enough to single it out. He did, I noticed, look after the trap curiously, as if wondering what I'd put in there for him. He had sense enough not to find out though.

Next to him was Sora, who'd immediately picked up Mini and Poison without a second thought, then stalled when it came to the remaining three, his hand hovering indecisively above them. Unlike Riku he didn't try to see them from different angles, and he also didn't seem to have noticed the tell-tale signs of his trap, which cost him as the next one he reached for was just that. It shot up his arm and sank into his clothes, turning them orange. Realising he'd caught the trap, he tapped the other two to collect them, looking thoughtful as he thought of what he could do with them.

His trap was simple. For a time, his clothes would change colour depending on what he was feeling. Which could be interesting when Kairi arrived. I'd not been able to pick the colours myself, but since it was my own magic I was able to pick up some idea. The orange signified the surprise, and the light blue it was turning seemed to be the dismay he felt at getting caught out.

Xion meanwhile had gone from almost too ready to pick up his spells to immediate apprehension the moment he knew there was a trap among them. He too thought about it for a time, then shrugged and in what was probably a deliberately reckless act, simple dragged his hand over each of them in turn – perhaps unfortunately for him, starting with the blue trap on the end.

Unlike Sora, his clothes were not the target. It was in actual fact another of my carefully crafted illusions, but one that would bother him at least a little and make him a bit uncomfortable. While his clothes did not change as such, they did hang slightly differently as the illusion took hold, making him cease to look like Sora's twin, and instead look like the real Xion. Who, unlike this Xion, is not a boy. His shock at this tested the limits of the spell I'd placed to keep them from hearing each other. Neku, free from that however, burst out laughing.

Sora's clothes turned an even brighter shade of blue, until he realised Neku was not laughing at him, but in turning to see Neku he'd noticed the sign. The bright shade started to return when he realised the sign had been there all along.

"If this is permanent..." Xion glowered at me. I just shook my head, and some of the venom in his look fell away. Once they'd all finished, I removed the walls I'd put in place, and naturally they all looked to each other.

Riku tried very hard not to look either smug or amused with the trap still sat untriggered behind him, but seeing both of them gave him trouble with that. Sora, who like Riku knew what Xion looks like in the game as well, looked faintly embarrassed until he saw Xion. Some of the brightness went out of the clothes as he realised he hadn't gotten the worst of it. Xion couldn't decide whether to be irritated or embarrassed.

"It's not permanent," I told them. "And it's not real in either case. They're just illusions. Very good ones, but still illusions. Sora's already noticed it, but look beside Neku."

Riku and Xion both at last spotted the sign. Xion muttered something.

"That's why it was a test of observation," Riku nodded. "Whether we'd look at _all_ the room, not just what we could see looking your way. And whether or not we noticed the signs," he added, carefully avoiding looking toward his less fortunate classmates.

"You could at least not have laughed at me," Xion told Neku. My illusion also made him sound like the real Xion as well, causing him to cover his mouth with one hand and turn red as Neku tried, without much success, not to laugh any more, eventually having to disappear to stop himself, and even then the last laughs echoed through the room.

"Don't mind him," I told them. "I'll teach you a bit about counterspells after lunch, by which time we'll have had guests, so I'll hold off on the remaining training for the day. Just don't forget what you've learned here."

"No chance of that," Xion muttered.


	8. Dropping in and Looking Out

I persuaded everyone else to help out with lunch – I _had_ provided breakfast, after all – so I could turn my attention once again to Yen Sid's book, mostly because I wasn't sure what more I could teach them after Countermagic. Oh, I'd mentioned unarmed combat, but that tends to depend on main strength, and I don't know quite as much as I'd like about that. As for alternative... well, I could teach them a bit about facing opponents armed differently, but that was about all.

This meant it was starting to get very important I figure out how to send them on their way at last, and as so often seems to be the case, it turned out to be something relatively simple. At least, simple to someone who understands more than I do.

Mickey brought Kairi in just as lunch started, allowing them to get some lunch too and all of us to see Sora's clothes turn bright pink in reaction to his feelings when he spotted Kairi. His faint embarrassment was lost compared to Xion's though, who was still vexed with me over the trap he'd caught.

While she talked, I sat apart still trying to figure out the book. Mickey and Neku, closely followed eventually by Axel once again, all came to join me.

"Still having trouble, huh?" Mickey remarked knowingly.

"You need to be a technical genius just to figure this out," I complained. "At this rate it'll be weeks before I get this."

"Give it here," Neku sighed. "I'll figure it for you and give it to you in a way you'll understand better."

"I can do it," I said, injured.

"And I can do it quicker. You'll still be the one sending them there, I'll just be making it easier on you. We're not going to argue again, are we?"

"No, I guess not. You tend to win when we argue," I replied, handing it over. "Don't lose my bookmarks," I added absently.

"There's something else I need to talk to you about Liam," Mickey continued as Neku wandered off. "Maleficent's been seen in a few worlds lately, and Pete again too."

"I'm sure you can handle it," I shrugged. "I've got this to deal with."

"Don't start that," he warned. "Just 'cause we said your own patrols weren't necessary, doesn't mean we can handle it without you."

"Let me look into it then," Axel said suddenly. "Get Roxas to go with one of the boys in my place or something. Maybe it'll help with... that thing you and I talked about last night."

"I'd prefer to send Roxas with you, Axel – just in case, you understand. If Kairi decides to stick around I can ask her to fill in for you. I don't doubt she'd be glued to the glass watching Sora anyway. Would you go ask her?"

Axel nodded and headed for the other gathering, where Sora was busy recounting an exaggerated version of Riku's battle with me.

"Can ya really spare Roxas? After what happened with Charlie..."

"Please don't remind me," I answered in a pained tone. "I know I made a mistake there, but I didn't expect to need him. This is different though. They're the ones who are going to need to be whole, not me. I'm just their teacher. Besides, the only thing I'm likely to do is drop in on Twilight Town. I owe someone a Struggle match there."

"Don't set yourself in stone though. If something comes up..."

"Roxas knows how to keep in touch with me. Neku arranged it in case I ever needed him, but it works both ways. If something happens he and Axel can't handle, I can be on the scene in moments if necessary. They'll just have to hope those three don't need me at the same time."

"I see ya learned from _that_ mistake quickly."

"Can you blame me? I'm more worried about what's going to happen to them once they're in the Realm of Sleep – once they're there, according to what I've learned I'm not allowed to intervene unless they're in over their heads and in mortal peril."

"That can't be right. Sure you read it right?"

"Yes," Neku said absently. "He even talked it over with me. Have the book back, Liam. I'll be back in a bit. I'm going to try something myself first, then I'll get back to you about this."

"Watch out for yourself, old friend," I told him, then he vanished.

"Just why do you call him that?" Mickey asked curiously. "It's not as if you've known each other all that long from what I gather."

"Have you ever asked Neku how old he is?" I replied. "He always replies with something like 'the answer wouldn't have any meaning for you'. So I just accept that he's old, and he's a friend..."

"What's this about watching Sora?" Kairi asked, cutting off further conversation.

"Didn't you explain, Axel?"

"Of course I did, but I guess my explanation wasn't good enough," he replied. "Can I talk to Roxas?"

"Just a moment then," I sighed, getting up. Roxas and I haven't really found any easy way to separate, at least not one that doesn't look unnatural anyway. Mind you, the entire thing is kinda unnatural, but still. All I did this time was hold out one hand as if summoning a Keyblade, only instead of it appearing, the light started to marshall first into a hand, then an arm, and from there Roxas started to effectively grow out of the light.

"You could have woken me first," he grumbled once he'd fully formed. "We'll leave you three to it."

Mickey was looking on in amazement.

"Never seen anything like that before. Ansem'd love to know how it works... if he hadn't disappeared."

"I know. Anyway, Kairi. It's like this. Jiminy is here chronicling what me and all three students are getting up to, so there's an official record of it to go on Mickey's library. And so certain others can find out what's going on too. But because they're likely to be split up as soon as they embark on their journey, Demyx and Axel joined me here to keep an eye on them."

"And now Axel is going off someplace, you need someone to cover for him. I can do that, so long as I get to drop in back home once in a while, let everyone know I'm fine."

"I'll try and arrange something," I promised. "Now, I think it's time I taught them how to counter hostile magic. Mickey, if you could talk to Axel and give him something to work with, I'm sure he'll get right on things. Roxas can keep an eye on him, we can keep an eye on my students, and I can try to be a teacher. Again."

"I think Xion shares your sentiments about teaching," Kairi said. "He doesn't seem to think you've got a good approach."

"Ah, but, he's not going to forget that particular lesson in a hurry, is he?" I said slyly.

"I don't think any of them are," Mickey remarked. "What were you gonna do to Riku if he triggered the trap?"

"Oh, nothing," I answered innocently. "I just sort of remembered that he's never been to the Pride Lands, so we have no idea what he'd look like as a lion. Roxas and I both appeared to be juvenile lions when we stopped by, but I thought he might enjoy it more as a cub instead. I'm proud of him for not triggering the trap, of course, but you can't blame me for being curious."

Mickey looked over at Riku thoughtfully, then said, "Didn't you say you were going to spring surprise tests on them?"

"Yeah, but what would turning him into a lion test?"

"He's never been to a world that alters his form that much, Liam," Mickey reminded me. "Besides, you're creative. I'm sure you'll come up with something."

"Thanks," I said flatly.

Mickey didn't respond, frowning. After a few moments I found out why, as a low hum started to sound through the tower. He must have been able to hear it before us.

"It's nothing of mine," I answered his curious look, having to shout just to be heard.

The ceiling sagged down slightly, though the stones that made it up did not fall apart – it was just distorted. An unfamiliar kind of portal appeared, then the ceiling snapped back, spat Neku out, and then the portal on it vanished, the hum fading with it.

Neku stayed on the floor for a few moments before he finally sat up, looking back at the ceiling and said, "Bugger. Don't mind me," he added, seeing everyone looking at him. "I'm just trying not to tear myself apart figuring this out. You'll have softer landings," he told Sora, Riku and Xion, wincing as he got up. "Or at least you will if I can figure this out."

"And you want to trust him?" Mickey asked.

"I'm starting to be in two minds about it myself," I muttered. "Maybe it's time I started to teach them countermagic."

"Mind if I set in? Only I never figured it out myself either."

"I might as well open a magic school while I'm at it," I grumbled. "Alright everyone. All those who want to learn countermagic, come with me downstairs and we can leave Neku to beat himself up in peace."

"Thanks," Neku said flatly almost identically to me.

"No charge," I grinned back.

I used the same room as I had before, though I removed the tables this time. I concealed Riku's trap, since Mickey had made an interesting suggestion for it, then created benches about the edge of the room.

"Where do ya start with countermagic then?" Mickey asked starting the lesson.

"With the spell being cast, of course," I replied. "Known magical theory on the matter is riddled with conflicts because of two differing approaches, but in actuality the two both work. One method only works with elemental magic – fire, water, earth and air being the basics, but there's an expanded elemental range that it works on just as well. For that method you simply counter with an opposing element. Water puts out fire, fire melts ice and so on."

"That means I'm perfect to counter Axel then," Demyx said. "Hey, where is Axel anyway?"

"Looking into something with Roxas," I replied. "But you're right all the same."

"And the other method?" Riku asked. "It works for any kind of magic, right?"

"Lucky guess?" I asked, and Riku nodded. "Right again anyway, but there's a similar limit on it. You have to know the magic yourself. In theory, if I cast Fire, you can counter it by casting Fire yourself. If the two spells collide, they counter each other out."

"What if you cast something like Firaga?" Xion asked "Do you have to counter with another Firaga, or can you use lesser versions?"

"It depends on how much magic was put into it. If I, for example, were to cast a drastically underpowered Firaga, you could in theory use Fire to counter it. The other way should hold true, but you've got more alternatives – cast several Fire spells in quick succession, or put more magic into a Fire spell."

"I didn't know you could change how much magic you could use," Sora said. "Did anyone else?"

"Yeah," Riku said. "But I think I know why. Your spells are all pre-made. You can't change them. Liam gave me a copy of his spells, and he re-learned those the hard way, so I can change how much I use."

"What good is that for us then? Xion and me both have pre-made and nothing else."

"Upstairs you'll find a shelf with three identical books on, on loan from Merlin," I replied. "They're magic themselves, and they'll contain each of the spells you know – except for the two you got from me earlier. You can use them to learn your spells properly, but later. Right now, lets have a volunteer, and we'll test the second method. No additional magic and no underpowering them either," I added. "Just the basic spells."


	9. Trouble Trial

Since Riku knew the same spells as I did, more or less, it didn't really come as any surprise that the twins both persuaded him to go first. I expanded the room we were in to give more space and more time to react to each spell, then we got started.

At first I told him what spell so he'd be able to prepare – first the original three, Fire Thunder and Blizzard. Fire was the easiest to handle once he got timing down, Blizzard somewhat less so and Thunder we both quickly discovered took a great deal of finesse to get right as each of the separate bolts of lightning had to coincide. Not an easy task.

Once he'd started to get the hang of timing them right, I not only stopped telling him what magic I was casting but further resorted to silently casting the spells. It put him at a significant disadvantage, but also prepared him nicely.

Then I started throwing other spells – Fira gave him a little trouble as it's very similar to Fire, but he followed up quickly with a series of Fire to handle that. Blizzara caused a bit of a mess as the two ice spells were off-centre and reacted, spraying shards of ice about the room, and we skipped Thundara entirely after the trouble before.

At that point I paused, partly because Riku was out of magic and partly because the twins had got a fair idea of what to do by now. Since they were more evenly matched for each other, I created a second room for them to test each other in under the watchful eyes of Mickey and Jiminy, while Demyx remained with Riku and me so Jiminy would have a record of events.

I also did this because I still had one further thing to test Riku on.

"Feeling up to another round?" I asked him after a time.

"I dunno, I'm not sure I've got the magic to go toe-to-toe with you again. That was a lot of magic we threw about."

"That isn't all you have though. You've been around me long enough to know that magic and darkness are, to some degree, interchangeable."

"Kinda didn't want to do anything with that, Lee. Darkness is responsible for a lot of what I've done. It's changed me, and you can't say it didn't do the same to you."

"No, I'll concede that. I did have to make some changes to account for it, but as long as I'm careful about using it, that's no worry at all. If anything you've got less to worry about than me – at least you don't have to fight with it every time you use it. Neku calls it a Glass Cannon because of that."

"Glass cannon," he laughed. "Nice term." He sighed and stared into space for a time before he finally said, "I'm not gonna get outta this, am I?"

"No, Riku. You've got it, and you know how to use it safely. Darkness is a dangerous thing, and if you don't keep a hold on it, others can use that against you. Remember Xehanort's Heartless?"

Riku winced, "I've been trying not to."

"I know, but think about it. If you're in control of it, others can't control you with it. And you need to keep in practice if you want to keep that."

"Alright, I get the idea, don't beat me over the head with it. How do you want me to do this?"

"Same way we were magic. You can alter the magic in your spells, so you can also alter the composition. Go halves – half magic, half darkness. For our own safety I'll tell you what spell and give you fair warning – Neku's already had words with me that I'm not to force him to undo anything I do to you."

"When I go to the Realm of Sleep-" he started thoughtfully.

"Ask him, not me," I cut him off. "I'd say no on principle – I agreed to protect his book, that's why he still lets me keep it. He might decide to work around that somehow, I don't know. Now, lets give this a try."

Riku was, understandably, reluctant to go through with this. I couldn't blame him, but I wasn't going to leave him completely unprepared for anything Xehanort, in any of his incarnations, might attempt.

Naturally, since it was the first dark-enhanced spell I knew and the one I used to figure out all others, I opened with Dark Firaga. There was no need to worry about timing after the earlier volleys, seeing it easily countered with a flare of dark fire between us.

"Hey, Liam," Riku called afterwards. "Who did you practice against?"

"Me? I uh... didn't." I replied. "I sort of... learned about it. I just never did it myself."

"Really? My turn then!" he grinned broadly and threw Dark Blizzaga back at me.

That took me off guard, but I'd been paying attention to my own lessons naturally and countered it easily.

"That all you got?" I smirked back. "Let's see what else I've got then," and threw Dark Slow at him – a difficult combination to match, as Time magic becomes highly unstable with darkness. Riku countered that, then to my own surprise sent Stop back, similarly unstable. We ended up cycling through pretty much ever spell we both knew, though still carefully avoiding Thunder magic.

After a time Neku's voice warned us it was getting too risky, not exactly for either of us but it was attracting certain kinds of attention and he'd had to ask Terra to depopulate the Keyblade Graveyard of certain unexpected guests.

"Oh well," Riku remarked. "I got in some practice, and it looks like I've still got a good hold on the darkness. Should we rejoin the others?"

"No," I decided. "I think it's time for something else I have in mind for you."

"It's not a surprise test if I know about it," Riku protested.

"It is if you don't know what to expect," I replied with a wicked grin. "Demyx, you come too – I'll need Jiminy for this, so I'll have to ask you to keep an eye on the others."

He didn't answer, still writing a few details down on his pad before he came with us.

The others were still throwing around magic next door, though they'd decided to involve Keyblades as well to add another element to it. A neat stack of Elixirs nearby suggested Neku had decided to give them a hand so they didn't have to stop when they ran out of magic.

"Jiminy, I need to borrow you for a bit. Demyx can cover for you."

"Just give me a moment," Jiminy replied, also writing quickly. "Can you guys take a break for just a moment?" he called to the twins, who paused to oblige, breathing hard.

"Oh, hi Lee," Sora said after a moment. "Didn't see you there."

"Don't do that again!" Xion said.

"Am I missing something?" I asked.

"Sora 'accidentally' almost hit Xion with a spell and said something similar right after," Kairi chuckled. "Xion didn't take it too well."

"You wouldn't either if you'd just had a fireball shoot past your ear!" Xion exclaimed.

"Not _my_ fault I was facing away from you when I cast the spell," Sora said innocently.

"All done," Jiminy said, handing his notepad to Demyx, then taking his off him. The two re-sized to more convenient sizes for each of them. "Try to keep them out of trouble, won't you Kairi?" he asked plaintively.

The twins both managed to fake looks of purest innocence at that. Jiminy sighed, climbing into my hand, then Riku and I left them to play.

"Hold still," I told Riku, then lifted Jiminy to Riku's shoulder. "And you hold on tight," I added to Jiminy.

"Now there's a novelty," Riku remarked. "Aside from Mickey once, I don't think I ever had a companion on any of my adventures, certainly not one logging everything I did."

"Just convenient in this case. I'm not going to be present – at least not that you'll be able to see – once this begins, so I need someone to write it down, don't I? This door, I think," I said absently, poking my head in to check. It was among the rooms I'd prepared in advance, mimicking Radiant Garden at the time I had visited with Ventus. There were no Unversed to be found here though, at least not unless I wanted there to be, so in their place I'd added normal townsfolk going about their business. That was important for what I had in mind.

I led Riku through the door, which _seemed_ to vanish with a hissing sound afterwards.

"Uh... Liam?" Riku asked, looking back to it.

"Quite normal," I replied without concern, continuing on. It had put us exactly where I wanted to be, which was the central square, with paths leading off in all four directions. The route I had in mind would take us up to the familiar street on which Merlin's house resided.

"Are we... really here? Or is it just an illusion?"

"You don't expect me to tell you, do you Riku?" I replied. "Your test started the moment you walked through that door. I'll show you to where you'll actually be tested and tell you what you need to know, then it's entirely up to you. The door will reappear only when the test is over, regardless of whether you pass or not."

We weaved through the crowds – I might have overdone it and added a few too many people to the setting, but I did need him to notice when something was up shortly – to finally emerge at Merlin's house, and to a bench I'd created outside.

From the throng there came a series of "Excuse me – coming through here," and similar comments as Riku tried to catch up.

"I'm sure there's not this many people living here," he remarked when he caught up.

"Maybe. Your test – the actual test itself, that is – begins shortly. Just wait right here."

And then, to him, I disappeared. It was another illusion, leaving me nearby, but to him I'd simply vanished.

"That's it? That's all I needed to know?" he demanded. Several people among the crowd gave him odd looks, and he settled slightly, taking a seat on the bench still looking slightly irritated.

"This must be your surprise test, Riku," Jiminy told him. "Maybe you gotta figure out what the test is as well as how to deal with it."

"How am I suppose to know? I can't even tell if this is the real Radiant Garden or not. I think it's an illusion, but his illusions are too good to tell."

"Maybe you should look about then?" he suggested

"Lee said I had to wait here," Riku disagreed, watching people pass while tapping one foot absently. I started to nudge the illusory people, having less and less of them appear. As the position of the sun here in this Radiant Garden indicated it was about high noon, he should notice this.

He didn't disappoint, starting to look concerned.

"Think something might have happened?" Jiminy suggested, looking no less bothered.

"Could be... I don't know. He didn't exactly give us time to look around. Maybe there's an event or something they've all gone to."

"Surely you'd still see someone around though."

"I guess, but the test... unless this _is_ the test..." he agonised over it for a few moments. "Oh, to hell with it. Lets go find out what's going on."

Which was exactly what I'd wanted him to do. Now I started to nudge a few other actions about the town into taking place. He'd run across them depending on where he went.

Riku headed back to where we'd arrived, and where the door still was, though until he was done it would not even feel like it was there even if he walked right through it.

The central square of course was also by now deserted. As Riku walked through, looking about with grave concern on his face, one of the events triggered. An image of a girl appeared, running in clear terror from something. Something that turned out to be a shadow on the ground, a low pool of darkness.

"Oh, no you don't!" Riku muttered, pulling out his Keyblade. "Come here," he called to the girl. "I'll protect you!"

She turned quickly to join him, but more shadows appeared now. One even climbed up out of the ground to form the familiar Shadow Heartless. Riku made a gesture with his free hand and I felt his darkness reach out to my illusion Heartless, trying to force them to show themselves. I let them react as he wanted, not wanting to confirm this was all illusions just yet.

The nearest of them were quickly destroyed as he made his way to the girl, taking to one corner and shielding her himself as he cut down any Heartless that got too close, using Thunder magic to reach the further off ones.

Once the tide of Heartless had subsided he turned to the girl.

"What happened?" he asked gently.

"An evil woman in black appeared," she answered. "She did something and those things came out of everyone's shadows. Some people even turned into them as well! I was scared, so I just ran."

"Evil woman? Black robes, horns and a staff?"

"Do you know her?"

"Maleficent," he almost growled the name. "She's a very bad person. Where did you see her?"

"Up in the gardens outside the castle," she said, pointing to the illusion of the place Ansem the Wise once lived and worked. "But don't leave me on my own! I don't want to get turned into one of them!"

"We oughta find somewhere safe," Jiminy suggested. "We can't leave her behind, but I don't think we dare go near Maleficent with her."

"Merlin's house should be safe," he decided after a moment. "The old wizard will surely know what to do."

Except the 'old wizard', much like the other known residents of Radiant Garden at the time, were not here. The events I had taking place probably happened differently in reality, but they were based on what I knew – by this point in my make-believe version, Cid had already taken Merlin, Leon and the gang to Traverse Town.

The girl held tightly onto his hand as he led the way, clearly on alert now as he warily kept watch – even behind him periodically, remembering what I'd said earlier.

"I know that house," she said as they approached Merlin's house. "I saw the man with the fluffy beard leaving with the bad tempered one."

"Leaving? Just my luck," he muttered, dismissing the Keyblade to tug on the door. "Locked, of course," he sighed. "Well, I'll just have to apologise to him later."

He recalled it again to unlock it, leading her inside. I'd arranged it to show signs of a hurried departure, with many of Merlin's belongings missing – taken with him, of course.

"Hey, mister," the girl called to him, having let go of him and gone to one shelf. Another event I wanted to happen. "What're these?"

Riku joined her at the shelf she'd gone to – a shelf laden with spells, though all in trap-form. Deliberately so.

"That's magic," he told her. "Don't touch them or they'll do something to you, and I don't know what."

"Could you use them to keep this place safe against the bad things?"

"Not me – if I try, they'll affect me instead."

"Hey, Riku, look!" Jiminy said, pointing toward the door. "The Heartless can't seem to get in here!"

Don't ask me if that really applies. I was playing with creative license there, but as it looked to them, there were Heartless at the door, but held back by some unseen barrier.

"So it's safe here," Riku said. "That's good to know, unless I have to leave again. I don't ever remember Merlin keeping spells around like this though..."

"He's never done it when I've been around, that's for sure," Jiminy agreed.

"Look at this one, mister Riku," the girl said, prompted by another nudge from me. "There's something inside it!"

Riku cautiously looked closer. Within the spell orb was an image of himself. "Odd," he murmured. "Magic of me?" Then he started to look at the others, identifying them as he went along. "A lion's head... a snake... some kind of bird... and a fish? Wait a moment..." he looked at each thoughtfully. "Maybe these aren't traps. Well, they are," he admitted. "But they're not supposed to be used that way."

"What are you thinking?" Jiminy asked.

"I wonder if they're something I'm supposed to use," he answered, then pointed to the one that contained him. "This one looks like it's some kind of reset spell, as if it undoes anything the others do."

"And you think the others might be able to help you in some way?" Jiminy wondered. "But you should be careful. If they change your form, you might not be able to change back so easily."

"Right. And I can't carry them around, if I touch them they'll trigger."

"What about this?" it was the girl again, now holding up a rucksack.

"Perfect," Riku said, taking it off her. "Thanks. Now if I can just roll these into it without touching them..."

"Make sure you can reach them," Jiminy warned. "No good carrying them around if you can't use them."

"I'll figure something out," Riku replied absently, collecting the four of them. "You'll be safe here," he told the girl. "And if I find anyone else, I'll send them this way, so you're in charge of making sure they're alright, okay?"

"But what about those black things?"

"Leave them to me," he replied, retrieving his Keyblade. The Shadows at the door barely formed any resistance for him. "Next stop, the castle," he added after they were gone.


	10. A Walk on the Wild Side

Riku kept moving through Radiant Garden, following the round-about route through the gardens after discovering the gates in the square were locked without any sign of an actual lock, preventing him from taking the direct route. I created occasional Heartless to appear along the way, but these were not the key part of the test, meant more as an embellishment to make it seem more like something Maleficent would have done.

The gardens themselves were altered considerably though, with great chunks of upper levels appearing to be destroyed and blasted about. Overdone, given that this was me, but they had the desired effect – they blocked his path. The pillars and rubble were deliberately arranged in such a way that he could not simply climb over them.

"I think we're going to have to use the spells, Riku," Jiminy said.

"Right," he agreed. "But we should pick carefully. I don't know about you, but that bird didn't look like it would be able to carry the bag with us."

"Maybe if the spells can be re-used, we can use the bird as a scout then, to see better. You can't really progress like that because you'd need your own form back, so it's not really good for much else."

"Worth a try at this point," Riku nodded, taking down the rucksack. He used a few small rocks to nudge the spells out without triggering them, leaving the one for the bird and the reset one easily accessible. "Here goes," he said, then reached out to the bird.

The spell triggered, causing a jolt of brilliant blue to travel up his arm, reshaping it as it went along and then spreading rapidly to the rest of him with a loud crackling sound. Jiminy quickly hopped clear in case it tried to affect him, watching with interest.

Once it was done a hawk sat on the ground before the orb, but with different colours probably not found in any real hawk anywhere, a light grey with blue bands on his wings. He looked himself over with similar interest now he knew the spell had run its course.

"You make a mighty fine looking hawk, Riku," Jiminy remarked. "Can you still talk?"

"I dunno," he answered, his voice coming easily from the hawk's beak, just accompanied by the beak clicking. "Looks like it. Hop back on, and we'll have a look about."

"Maybe you'd better practice flying first," Jiminy said cautiously. "Just in case you need time to get the hang of it."

"The skill came with the spell, I think. Maybe I'd better try anyway though."

He spread his wings and took a light jump, unsteadily but quickly gaining height, circling the lowest part of the gardens once, then landed again nearby.

"Fun," he remarked. "I wonder if Liam would let me keep these. They could come in useful."

"You can ask him afterwards," Jiminy replied, carefully climbing up his back.

"Try not to pull out any of my feathers. I'd rather not turn back only to find it translates to hair or something."

Riku waited until Jiminy was certain of his hold, then he took to the air again, soaring above the gardens. I was still watching from the ground so couldn't hear him, but that was why I had Jiminy with him. Thanks to that, you'll know what they said up there.

"Looks like that pillar could just roll aside if we pushed it from the other side," Riku said, jabbing his beak at the obstacle beside the bag of spells. "If there's a way through a lion could use, I might be able to push it in that form."

"What about that pile of rubble up at the top of the first stairs though?" Jiminy said. "That looks like some kind of machinery. Almost like a piston."

"I'll have to take a closer look, maybe in snake-form – that'll get in where none of the others can, and maybe if it's still hooked up to a power source I'll be able to make it move itself out the way. I think that's all of the obstacles here."

"Except the Heartless. It's a good thing there's no flying Heartless."

"Yet," Riku said, dipping his wings to dive back down again. "Don't jinx us, whatever you do. I've no idea if I even can fight in this form. First things first though, I want my own form back – I've gotta move the bag and spells clear of that pillar before we roll it."

He flared his wings as he landed, letting Jiminy get clear before he pecked at the reset orb, restoring his form in another jolt of magic. It took him only a few moments to return the two spell orbs, move them clear, then tease out the lion one with the reset orb.

When he used the lion orb his form changed much as I'd originally intended when it had been as the trap; a lion cub very similar to the way Sora usually appears in Pride Lands, except the tuft of fur on his head was, naturally, the same as his normal hair.

"I like it," he laughed, looking at one paw. "And I reckon I could fight in this form if I had to."

"Lets hope you don't," Jiminy replied, climbing aboard once again. "Alright. Lets go look."

Riku broke straight into the easy lope of a lion, clearly enjoying himself. I know what it's like to run in that form, I can't get enough of it myself.

Jiminy ducked down as Riku found a small hole, too big for him normally but as a lion cub he could squeeze through easily. There was no way he'd get one of the spell orbs through the gap, but he already knew he didn't need to. He kicked free some of the rubble that was still holding the pillar in place, then planted both front paws on the ground and kicked at the pillar with his back paws, repeating several times until the pillar grudgingly started to move, then at last rolled aside.

Rather than head for the spells though, he headed straight for the machinery obstacle that came next.

"I could be able to do something without having to go back," he said along the way. "At least I can take a good look."

He quickly realised after a cursory look over that it wasn't going to be that simple. There were several control panels locked away behind wrecked pieces of machinery, but none of them accessible with a lion's paw.

Almost regretfully he ran back down to the spells, nudging the snake orb out of the bag with his paws and changing directly to it, a bright green snake with a silver stripe down his back. Almost immediately he tapped the reset orb with his blunt nose though and started putting the orbs back.

"What's wrong, Riku?" Jiminy asked.

"It'll take me ages to get up there in that form," he replied. "I can save time by carrying everything up there like this and changing there instead."

It didn't really take long for him to get up there, change back and weave into the machinery. I'd left it clearly labelled so he wouldn't have to experiment, and so the machinery retracted most of itself out the way and he was able to move on. Once again the gates for the direct route were locked off, forcing him to take the alternative route to an aqueduct that doubled as a bridge. Here there was no damage as such, but there were barriers at either end that would block a lion, snake or human from trying to pass.

Riku took to the air once again, flying low over the aqueduct trying to find anything, eventually coming across the switch to retract the barriers at the far end. Underwater, and easily out of reach of his beak even if he had been able to trigger it with that.

He wasted no time flying back, but paused thoughtfully once human again. No doubt to think more carefully about this. If he changed into fish-form out of water he'd have to hope he could flip himself into the water before he suffocated – fish don't breath air the same way, after all. But if he changed while in the water, he'd have to put at least one other orb within his reach and hope the current didn't wash it away.

His solution was unexpected even to me. He set the bag against the back of a set of steps leading into the water, using the steps themselves to prevent it from moving, then moved the orbs about so they were in a line with the fish-orb at the front.

Once he changed into a predominantly blue Rainbow Fish, he took a few moments to swim with the current, getting used to his form. Because of the current he swiftly made his way to the far end, only to find that he still lacked the force to trigger the switch.

It took him longer to swim back up because it was against the current, swimming back into the bag at the other end to touch the lion orb, which in turn allowed him to nudge the reset orb out and restore his form.

"Well now what am I meant to do?" he muttered, filling in Jiminy who'd remained dry at the head of the steps instead of going with him this time.

"Think maybe you could get one of the spells under the barrier?"

"Probably," Riku said, gauging the gap. "But it'd be swept down there by the current."

"Exactly. As a lion you could swim fairly well and be able to trigger it, wouldn't you think? If it triggers the barriers-"

"Of course! It'd raise them, then I could safely run back down here and get the others back! That's brilliant Jiminy. But... I guess I shoulda thought of it myself really."

"Never mind that, even if this isn't real, you gotta treat it as if it is. Take too long, and who knows what Maleficent could do?"

"Right," Riku agreed, then teased the lion orb out and nudged it over so the current started to carry it downstream, changed back to a fish, then swam after it. He even went ahead of it to check the end just in case the grate I'd put there was not in fact there. Did he really think I'd let him lose a spell that easily when he was going to need it? I'm not _that_ nasty.

He waited patiently behind the second barrier for the water to bring the lion orb to him, bumping into it to trigger it and leave him floundering and splashing for a few moments. Just as Jiminy thought, he was able to trigger the switch and remove the barriers, then climb out, shake the worst of the water off him and run back down the path alongside the water to retrieve the other orbs and move on once again.

Once he'd again picked up the orbs and, after a few muttered complaints, slung the soaked rucksack back on his back and carried on, at last reaching the uppermost gardens around the old castle of Ansem the Wise, outside which was the waiting illusion of Maleficent, surrounded by several kinds of Heartless.

"I knew it!" he exclaimed, seeing her. "Stop what you're doing, Maleficent!"

"Who has the audacity to try to order _me_ around?" she demanded, turning to look at him. "Who are you?"

"Mind your own business," Riku replied. "By getting outta town. You're not welcome here."

"Oh, aren't I? We'll see about that! Heartless – get out into the town and hide! If you can find and defeat them all... then I'll acquiesce to your demands."

Riku smiled broadly, then to Jiminy," you saw how many Heartless of what kinds, didn't you?"

"Sure did," he replied. "Five Bully Dogs, two Angel Stars and a Screwdiver."

"Five for a lion, two for a hawk and one I'll have to figure out how to fish for," Riku said.

"What nonsense are you babbling about?" Maleficent said derisively. "Lions and fish? Do you plan to bring wild animals to do your work for you?"

"Why bring wild animals, when I can bring out my own wild side?" Riku smirked back. "Get ready to pack your bags Maleficent, because your Heartless aren't gonna be around for long!"


	11. Wild Hunt

Riku didn't let on exactly how he was going to deal with the Heartless in front of Maleficent, heading back down toward the waterway where one of the Angel Stars was hovering in the air, out of reach by most kinds of magic and also a long way out of reach of the Keyblade.

It had been hovering fairly harmlessly until Riku dropped the bag and nudged out the clinking spells, taking care not to let any roll into the water, but the sound of them alerted it. It glowed briefly then threw a blast of wind at it.

Predictably, having learned his lessons well he snapped, "Wind!" at the spell, thrusting one hand toward it. The two spells collided and countered out perfectly. Riku then summoned his Keyblade and dropped it deliberately nearby, turning back into his hawk form. He swooped up, circled round and then back again to grasp the handle in his talons, swerving slightly off course due to the sudden extra weight but correcting himself quickly.

The Angel Star meanwhile realised the nature of its opponent had changed, flapping its wings to try to escape, but it wasn't fast enough for a streaking hawk. Riku shot up through the two wings on one side, disorienting it, turned up above it then with the Keyblade in perfect position he dived straight down. The force of the impact on top of the Angel Star knocked it neatly out of the air and down to the ground far below.

It managed to recover long before it got down that far, but Riku had already gone into pursuit. Two more similar strikes and it was destroyed, leaving him to soar back up to the spells.

While he'd been busy chasing it, I took all the spell orbs except the lion one and concealed them down in the lower gardens, then transplanted some of the illusion Heartless into position guarding them.

If he wanted these spells back, he'd have to really touch on his wild side. I even left a trail for him to follow, too weak for a hawk or human to even notice, but a lion would have no trouble. Then to nudge him further on the right way I added a Shadow beside the waterway, rolling the lion orb away.

Riku rose back up into view not long after I re-concealed myself. He might not have been aware of what I'd done yet, but he did spot the Shadow and recognise what it was doing. Naturally it barely lasted one hit, smashed into the water when he slammed the Keyblade into it too, dismissing it and then checking the almost-stolen orb.

"No one steals my damn spells," Riku muttered, pecking at it to turn himself into a lion. Once transformed by it, he had no need to worry about touching it again to roll it back, and it was only then he realised he'd been robbed.

"It must have happened while we were going after that Angel Star!" Jiminy exclaimed, while Riku poked about inside the bag. "Are there any left?"

"None," Riku growled, emerging. "When I find the Heartless that did this..."

"Well, they can't have gone far. That Shadow hadn't gone too far. We'll just have to hunt for them."

"Hunt, huh?" Riku said thoughtfully. "I'm in the right form for it. But first, gotta do something with this orb – can't let it get stolen too."

He nudged it back into the bag, then closed the bag by standing on it, catching the drawstrings in his teeth and tugging. It was awkward, but he finally managed to close it. Given the mentality of most Heartless, there was no need to worry about it any longer.

Once that was done with he sniffed at the air, searching for scents. Lions don't normally hunt by scent, but they can follow trails – as long as there aren't too many conflicting scents. Since the Heartless had already caused the mass evacuation of this Radiant Garden though, that wasn't a problem.

I'd given each of the Heartless unique scents, so he was able to follow five blurred scents from the bag, one of which dropped off when he reached the place where he'd defeated the Shadow. The other four continued on down, retracing the route he'd taken to find Maleficent, but in reverse.

Along the way he passed a large reservoir, noticing near the bottom the green form of the single Screwdiver watching him pass. While stuck as a lion until he retrieved the remaining spell orbs, there was nothing he could do about it for now – but at least he knew where to find it.

The second Angel Star hovered high above the lower gardens, but it too was out of reach and paid him no attention. He tried to cast fire at it and ended up accidentally scorching one paw instead.

"Maybe not such a good idea," he grumbled, licking at his paw. "At least the scents are still here though," he added. "Bit blurred by the scents of the plants, but I think I can still follow them."

"Want a few ideas on how to use your Keyblade in this form?" Jiminy offered. "I remember watching Liam and Roxas fight similarly."

"Nah," Riku replied after a moments thought. "I'm a lion. Teeth, claws – what do I need a Keyblade for?" he grinned.

He scratched a mark in the ground where each scent diverged so he knew where to pick them up again then followed one of them toward a nearby bush. One of the Bully Dogs leapt out of it at him, barking at him.

Riku leapt at it, baring his teeth and snarling as he snapped at its flanks. The Bully Dog clearly didn't like that, drawing back from him, but now it was on the retreat Riku just kept on going for it. When it got near the edge of an upper garden he turned and kicked it the same way he had the pillar before, sending it flying down where it slammed into a tree and vanished, defeated.

He roared after it with a smirk playing over his face, then padded back to the bushes it had been hiding in. After rooting about for a moment he took a sturdy branch in his mouth and used it to push the missing snake orb out into the open.

"Maybe you should put it back?" Jiminy suggested. "After all, we don't want another Heartless to take it now we've found it, and we know where to find it."

Riku said something around the branch, made unintelligible by it.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Jiminy told him. "Put it back for now, Riku. Once we've got the reset orb back we can come back and collect it."

He grumbled a bit more, but nudged it back into concealment, took his stick to the mark he'd made and left it there, then went after another trail.

The fish orb was found second, concealed behind some rocks near the retracted machinery and guarded by another Bully Dog that fared no better than the first, then the hawk orb not long after hidden in the remains of the rubble that had held the pillar in place originally.

The fourth Bully Dog was found trying to roll the reset orb even further away and was unaware of Riku creeping up behind it, padding up on silent paws. Once he was almost on top of it he gave a low growl right in its ear. Despite the fact that Heartless are supposed to be incapable of emotion, my illusory Heartless still managed to freeze in terror.

He shoved it over on its side with one paw to hold it still, bit down on its neck, then threw it about while it struggled futilely. It didn't fare too well given the treatment, so it wasn't surprising to see that when it finally did get loose, it didn't last much longer.

With some regret he touched the reset orb, picking it up in one newly restored hand and Jiminy in the other.

"I think I'm definitely gonna ask Lee to see about making that available more often," he remarked, starting back up again. "Fun and effective too."

"You certainly looked like you were enjoying yourself, but don't get cocky – you've still got that Angel Star up there, one more Bully Dog, and the Screwdiver. How are you going to deal with them?"

"I'll think of something," Riku replied. "First I'm going to find the hawk orb and deal with that Angel Star up there. I'll leave this one nearby and keep an eye on it this time. Then all I have to do is get the bag, put this in and collect them again."

The second Angel Star was treated similarly to the first, except with less air beneath it Riku's blows knocked it down to the ground, where the impact finished it off instead. After eliminating another thieving Shadow that was trying to steal the reset orb again, he restored his form and retrieved the other orbs.

The bag was left beside the reservoir this time, and since there was no way any other form could handle the depth, he had to pause.

"I could put the reset orb in," he said doubtfully. "I might be able to swim up, but then the orb itself..."

"Wait a moment, Riku," Jiminy said. "Think about this differently. Remember the first way of countering magic? The way we didn't try?"

"One element beats another," he answered. "The magical version of rock-paper-scissors. Why, what of it?"

"See anything in the water besides that Heartless?"

He took a few moments to check, using a fire spell to get better lighting once. "No, just the Heartless."

"Right. So what magic could help here?"

Riku thought for a few moments, then realised what Jiminy was getting at and sent Thundaga straight into the water itself. Sparks of magic spread rapidly through the water, then earthed themselves into the Screwdiver, which succumbed under the assault.

"I really need to start thinking of these things myself," Riku said afterwards. "I mean, I know I got that one, but you helped me figure it out. I can't keep relying on others like this."

"Well as long as you learn that lesson, I'm sure Liam won't mind too much."

"Optimistic, isn't he?" Neku murmured to me. "Don't worry, they can't hear me. I thought you should know I've finally figured it out. Yen Sid says to hurry up, so give Xion his surprise test and get them on their way."

"Yen Sid should keep his nose out since he didn't want to do it himself," I muttered back, continuing to watch Riku as he started back into town to search for the last Bully Dog. "Unless there's some kind of time-frame to work with, I don't need other people telling me to work faster."

"Hey, I'm just the messenger."

"Well go find out what Roxas and Axel are up to for me while Riku finishes up, will you?"

"Atlantica, clearing up an outbreak of Heartless," he replied immediately. "You don't think I wasn't keeping an eye on them, do you?"

I didn't answer that.

Riku meanwhile had made it back to the central gardens where we'd arrived and was looking warily about for the last Bully Dog. There was nowhere for it to hide there, so he moved quickly on to the district where Merlin's house was, where the girl he'd left there... well, had disappeared because I'd needed the magic since then. Fortunately he didn't think to look for her, destroying a few more Shadows that had gathered outside, dropping the bag and changing back to his lion form to better hunt for the Bully Dog. I hastily added the scent trail for it, having not thought he'd try this, but made the trail fainter to make it seem like it was older.

Riku didn't really notice though, following it all the same to the reactor where I'd fought alongside Terra, Aqua and Ventus to defeat the Trinity Armour. He also spotted Maleficent watching from a high ledge, then decided to ignore that and attacked the Bully Dog as he was, chasing it down and biting and tearing into it until it fell like all the rest.

"Alright Maleficent," he roared up to her. "I defeated your Heartless. Now get out!"

While he'd been fighting, I'd teleported myself up alongside the Maleficent illusion and now overlapped it.

"Very well done, Riku," I called down, overlaying the voices too. To him then, the image faded out to reveal me. "Congratulations. You passed your test. The door is still there, but I'd suggest you change back before you try to use it."

"That was it?" he demanded. "Just defeat some Heartless?"

"And solve several puzzles. You correctly identified the test in the first place – the crowd thinning out and disappearing – protected the girl and used the form spells to navigate the obstacles with brilliant effects. You also didn't fall for the mistake of changing to fish form for the Screwdiver, and you did retrieve all the spells when I stole them. I think that's about all of it. You're right about one thing though – you do need to think of these things yourself, not have Jiminy or anyone else point you in the right direction."

Riku looked at himself, then questioningly back up at me.

"Go restore your form, Riku," I sighed. "I _might_ look into it."

"Might? But..."

"Donald's magic is what changed our forms when we went to other worlds, lasting magic that even affected Demyx when we hit Halloween Town without him," I told him. "You also don't have the benefit of the magic clothes the three good fairies created for Sora and me, so I can't do Drive forms either. If I make this sort of thing available to you, it has to be in a completely different form, and I don't know if I'll be able to get that ready for you before you have to start your journey for real."

"Well... it's better than nothing, I guess," he admitted reluctantly. "Couldn't you just... open the door for me?"

"All those orbs are illusions too, Riku. You leave, and you'll lose that reset orb."

"That wouldn't really be a problem, I don't think," he grinned, then laughed, "I'm joking. I'll go change back now," he said and ran off.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say some of Sora rubbed off on him," Neku observed in one ear.


	12. A Dance with the Mirror

With Riku's more lengthy test completed only Xion was still waiting for his. The two traps on him and Sora were starting to show signs of fading away, so while I started preparing some dinner for everyone, they whiled away the time listening to Riku give an embellished version of the test, waiting for them to wear off entirely.

Occasionally I commandeered one of them, but mostly I left them to it. Since nothing was going on, Demyx had headed back to Destiny Islands with Kairi so she could let everyone there know what was going on, leaving Jiminy to continue his own for a short time. Mickey meanwhile had headed home despite my attempts to persuade him to at least stick around for dinner.

While I cooked I had both Yen Sid and Neku's books nearby, reading through both as he taught me far better than anyone else ever could how exactly I was supposed to send the trio on their way. Since he didn't have to actually be there to turn pages in either of them and I can read quicker than I can talk about something, I had the theory down pat long before it got close to serving it up.

'What are you going to do about Xion?' he asked once we'd done.

"I'm not sure yet," I replied. "I'm still making most of this up as I go along."

'For something without any real plan to it, you didn't do badly for Riku.'

"Just inspiration as it came to me. I hadn't actually planned to steal the orbs and expand the test, but he was doing so well... it just added another challenge."

'Are you going to see what you can do about Riku's request?'

"I might look into it before I go to bed. I'm not really sure he'll need the ability to change into any of those forms on his way, though I'm sure he'd come up with convincing cases for both lion and hawk."

'I'll have a word with Merlin for you if you want, see what he suggests.'

"Depends on if we have time. If I can get Xion tested tonight I'll send them off tomorrow, if not... well, it depends, but it probably won't be much longer after."

'I'll just take a leaf from his book and play with time a little. Isn't that how he gave you and Ven more time when you stopped by last?'

"Time magic is a tricky thing, Neku."

'Who am I, Liam?' he wrote with the impression of a sigh. 'I don't _need_ magic.'

"I think you might have just given me the last idea I need for Xion," I murmured. "That, and something someone mentioned to me. Remember when Roxas tricked me into facing him and Xion?"

'Over at the Garden of Assemblage? Sure thing. Thinking of stealing that idea for yourself?'

"Something like that. I'm going to need a kind of pocket of time so we don't miss dinner though. I can nick Xion and take the two of us down to one of the rooms downstairs for it, I just need-"

'Need the time to do it in. Yeah, I figured as much. Just give me a moment and I'll put it in place when you take him down there.'

While he made those preparations I finished up, though much of it was just waiting for it to cook now. I put a few finishing touches on the forming ideas for testing Xion, then when Neku indicated he was ready whenever I was, I nabbed Xion with a similar teleport spell to my own, dropped the two of us in a room below which I'd made resemble Twilight Town at the top of the clock tower, and get everything started.

Naturally, as this was a surprise test, he didn't see me. Riku's test had been slightly different, only needed me at the start, but otherwise I hadn't been visible in any of them.

"Coulda picked better timing," he grumbled, apparently realising what was going on. By now the illusion from the trap had almost completely worn off, barely visible, so I nulled it entirely. It wouldn't be needed here, and lasting illusions were a big drain on magic. I'd need some of it for the complex illusion I was about to create.

A second Xion, designed to look true to her original form, walked around the corner to find our real Xion.

"I knew I'd find you here," she said. "Holds memories for both of us, huh?"

Xion did not look over at his true counterpart, his expression turning hard. "You're an illusion," he said flatly. "You're not really here."

"Does that really matter?"

"You're not me. I'm not you. There can only be one Xion, and that's me."

"How do you think Sora feels? Isn't there only supposed to be one of him-"

"We're twins," real-Xion snapped. "That doesn't mean there's two of him!"

"So why do you two act so alike?" true-Xion persisted. "Why confuse people who can't tell the difference between you? Even Liam had to steal your jacket to tell you apart."

He got up and looked her in the face for the first time. "I don't have to listen to this," he said. "You're just an illusion. If you were real, you wouldn't exist. I know what was supposed to happen in your life and I know what happened in mine, to the last day. The only reason I exist again is because Roxas overwrote the Xen Replica with me. It's not my fault that made me identical to Sora."

"I don't have anything against you for that, you know. You're the one who brought it up. I just came here to see you myself."

"Don't give me that. You came here because Liam created you. This isn't really Twilight Town and you're just magic that looks like... like the real me should have been," he grudgingly said.

"Alright," true-Xion said. "So that may be true. But that doesn't mean I can't think for myself in some measure. How do you know Neku isn't involved in making me act as if I was who I look like?"

"What do you want with me?"

"I already said. I came to see you myself. You've known about me from the moment you were created, same as Roxas did, because of Liam. You know, he came here and challenged you once?"

"I know of it. That wasn't me though, I don't remember it."

"I know. Just replica data. Just like each of us."

"I'm real now," he insisted. "When they purged Xen from me I became real. I'm not a Replica any more. Not that it's made much difference mind," he admitted. "But I am real."

"So if there's no difference... you won't mind a little test," she said, stepping up on to the edge of the clock tower, then out onto the unseen barrier that created a walls and floor.

"I'm not gonna fight you, Xion," he told her. "I wouldn't get anything out of it."

"You don't have a choice," she called back, still walking out. "You have to if you want to finish this test. Defeat me – if you can!"

She stopped opposite him, then with a snap of her fingers disappeared. Scattered about were eight identical copies of her, only one of them the real thing. None of them called a Keyblade to hand.

"Oh, like this is fair!" he said irritably. "Fine – have it your way. I'll show you what I can do!"

Except if I was right, that wouldn't do him any good. He'd focused almost exclusively on attacking physically before, meaning he neglected his magic. He quickly discovered that here, this counted against him as he charged for the nearest image of the true-Xion.

That image summoned a Kingdom Key of its own, levelling it gravely at him as he approached. He copied this, trying to strike down heavily on her Keyblade but she removed it from his path before they connected, stepping to one side then striking back to knock him to the floor.

He rolled back to his feet and lunged for her again only to find his Keyblade simply bounced off her coat without even pushing her back in the slightest. Xion easily struck back and sent him flying once again.

He rounded on a different image of her, but the first one dismissed her Keyblade allowing the nearest one to take it up instead.

"Oh, that's just cheap!" he exclaimed. "At least give me _something_ to work with!"

None of the images responded – no need to, except to possibly give away which one was the real illusion, if there is such a thing.

Xion fought with the images for at time, trying to catch them out somehow, but each one defended herself as he attacked, passing their Keyblade between them depending on who was closer. Eventually he managed to see clearly long enough to figure out what he was supposed to be doing, snapping, "Fira!" at the image he was attacking.

She brushed it aside with her Keyblade, but the spell kept on going, narrowly avoiding the neighbouring one which had to step back to avoid getting harmed.

A metaphorical light bulb went on for him then. His Keyblade couldn't harm them, but magic did. He tried Fira again, this time aiming it for a more distant image that didn't have their Keyblade, except this time she had plenty of time to prepare for it, moving off to watch it sail harmlessly past.

"Alright," he growled brightly. "Then lets try something else – Thundaga!"

One of the images vanished in the lightning bolt that dropped down. He tried it a second time, except this time the spell had no effect on her.

"You didn't think I'd let you do the same thing twice, did you?" that image asked with a smile.

"Try some of this then – Blizzaga!"

"Firaga!" the image snapped, her spell blasting the Blizzaga into so much steam and water then continuing toward him.

"Uh-oh," he muttered, turning only to remember there was an armed image there. "Bugger," he added, then made a strike that never connected to draw her Keyblade out of position, dived past and behind her, then let the Firaga spell hit her instead. It vanished, her Keyblade dropping to the barrier-floor only to flash into the hand of the next nearest image.

When he got back to his feet again he was looking thoughtful. None of the images had attacked him unless he came close, except to counter the spell he'd sent at them just then. I didn't need her to be aggressive here – he was doing that himself. Ever since he'd caught the effect of the trap spell I'd got the impression that for some reason he resented her something, and that caused the irrational actions he'd started with.

He was definitely planning something though, his lips moving soundlessly as he thought, occasionally pointing to one of the images. When he was done he gave a benign grin to the armed Replica, pointed his Keyblade at her and said, "Wind!"

The image had readied itself to strike the spell away again, but looked up in surprise as the spell came not from the Keyblade but from his other hand, turned with the palm facing an image on the other side of him. Furthermore he'd learned another lesson – magic doesn't care what word you use to cast the spell, or even if you use a word. Some words will enhance the effect if they're related, but you don't necessarily have to do it.

The spell that he'd actually cast was not Aero but one of my own spells – Flare Chain. The fire shot quickly out toward that Xion image, forming the chain between his hand and her. Once it caught her he took hold of the chain, unharmed by the fire because it was from his own magic, and he started to pull on it, swinging it around something like a lasso, except with Xion on the end.

That image quickly took their Keyblade from the image that was still closer to him, hacking futilely at the chain as Xion continued to swing her around, first smashing into the newly disarmed image, then rounding on each of the others in turn. Just as I'd designed the spell, the chain grew in length with each successive swing, allowing him to attack the images with it without even having to close in much.

The images began to fall as the damage of impact alone, let alone the added fire, destroyed them. It harmed the image still caught on the chain as well, but it was bearing up much better than the others.

When there were only two images still left on the ground he took aim and then let go of the chain, sending a blazing stream of fire hurtling toward her. Even trying to run clear didn't help as the chain whipped around behind it, ensuring that no matter which way she went, it would still catch her.

Both images were destroyed by that, leaving only one left on the floor staring at where the Flare Chain had been until recently with chagrin.

"Oh bugger," she managed, then looked up in time to see Xion already going for her. She called the Keyblade to hand but Xion had other ideas, already knowing he couldn't harm her with it. He cast Zero Gravity not on her but on himself, enhancing the effect of a leap he took to soar easily over her head, leaving its field of effect at just the right moment to land behind her.

He held his hand out to her back and simply said, "Firaga!"

The last image vanished in a sudden explosion of flames. Firaga tends to be more of an instant detonation when used a point blank range like that, I've noticed.

With the images down he looked around to ensure he'd got them all.

"Well that was fun," he remarked. "What's next?"

I caused the barriers that had made up the floor to start to crack. Xion looked down at them in consternation then ran toward the clock tower, recasting the Zero Gravity spell to try and make it sooner as the barriers were crumbling beneath him.

He barely made it, missing the tower only by enough to end up holding on and trying to pull himself up. I added a new Xion image on top of the tower that came into view and leaned over him.

"Still having fun?" she asked.

"Oh, give me a break and help me up will you?"

"I dunno. You did just destroy me. Or at least, the images of me."

"Look, I'm sorry about what I said, alright! I just never properly came to terms with the fact that you could accept your fate and I couldn't. Now will you _please_ get me up?"

"Oh, _now_ you remember to say please? Alright, alright, don't tie your tail in a knot," she went on, grabbing him by the arms to heave him up. Only once he was up did I cancel that image, revealing that just as I had for Riku, it had been me.

"You wouldn't really have let me fall, would you?" Xion asked, not surprised by this.

"Of course not," I replied. "Now tell me. What do you think you've learned from this?"

"You mean besides admitting I wouldn't get along with her if she and I both existed? Or that not everyone appreciates what Sora and I do?"

"Well to be fair, I can understand why you do it, I don't normally mind it. You and I did it way back before Sora and I put ourselves back in the right places, remember. I just prefer to know who's who here so I didn't test the wrong one."

Xion thought for a few moments. "Well, you obviously tested what I'd do if I couldn't use the Keyblade. That was a really nasty touch, you know."

"I'm glad you liked it," I replied. "What else?"

"You got me thinking about how I use my magic, that's for sure. Not being able to use a spell twice sorta stumped me a bit, and I really wasn't expecting her to counter it. I didn't think she knew how."

"Technically she didn't, but as you know they were my illusions. Can't blame me for giving them a hand to give you more of a challenge. Keep going."

Xion thought again. "What else is there?"

"How about this? Even though you used pre-made spells there, you used them with great effect. You not only cast one of them with what was essentially the wrong word, but you also gave the appearance of one spell headed one way, when it was in fact another one the other way – a nice trick in anyone's book. For someone who came here barely paying attention to his magic, you've become fairly creative already. Once you study those books and learn your spells the hard way you should understand enough magic theory to come up with some very interesting magic."

"Maybe I'd better give magic more of a chance," he said thoughtfully, though the thoughtful look was spoiled by his stomach grumbling. "After dinner though," he added.

"Bit hungry, are we?"

"What can I say, fighting makes me hungry. Can't help that, can I?"


	13. The Journey Begins

As is my habit I was up late that night. Contrary to the beliefs of some, I'm not lazy – I just keep different hours. At least it isn't vampires hours, but I digress.

Despite what I'd said, this was mostly because I was intrigued by Riku's suggestion. Form-changing by magic is definitely possible as Donald alone proves. He is on the other hand a skilled magician, just as at home with battle magic as he is with more passive magic.

Riku and I on the other hand had learned primarily battle magic, and that becomes very habit forming. Not exactly bad habits, but you can get set in your ways. Passive magic requires concentration and no interruptions, making it unsuitable for use in emergencies, but it does have a wide-range of effects.

The difficulty I had in tackling the problem was the complexity of the magic involved even if I could get it down to a manageable level – as it was, he barely had enough magic available to him to do one transformation, let along changing back.

So I made a compromise. Part of the complexity comes from knowing the skills you'll need for that form, such as a hawk's ability to fly. Rather than give him a collection of spells that would allow him to change to each form individually and know instantly what he needed to, I altered it so that he could assume any form he wanted using only half the total magic he had available, but would have to learn what he needed himself.

Then because it's not fair to give something to one of them and not the others, I gave some thought to what I could do for both Sora and Xion as well. Something unique for each of them, I decided. The question was, what?

Giving Riku the ability to effectively shape-shift as he thought necessary was something he'd have to master on his own, with each form a challenge in itself. What then could I do similarly for them? For Xion, who as his own test had proved clearly preferred the same up close and personal approach I often take, I dipped into the collected weapons of the defeated Organization XIII and brought out Xigbar's Sharpshooter Arrowguns.

Fighting at range is not as easy as it sounds. True, you're not close enough to get hit, but you have to aim, take into account target movement, and as Xigbar probably knew all too well, you leave yourself open every time you reload. I'd figured out where he got his ammo from, at least. Ever wonder why he doesn't use magic much? If he ran out, he wouldn't have been able to fire them. It'd give Xion a new way of fighting to master and an excuse to work on his magic.

That only left Sora, who I was more worried about than the others. Normally he has Ventus with him, except he took up residence in my own heart instead, or hid out with Roxas when we split up again. On the other hand, he doesn't normally have a book of his own. Despite Neku and I having words with him and Saisha, this still bothered me. I didn't want him to become too reliant on it – or to let it fall into less trustworthy hands.

For him I took an idea I'd picked up form another world I'd visited, one of the ones I'd concealed from the rest of the Lanes Between because it isn't supposed to be there. It needed to be altered to function the way I intended, for which magic provided the framework, but like the gifts I'd be giving to the others it was something he'd have to master.

It was quite simple in theory, but a lot harder to put into practice ready for him. All he needed to do was create a circle somehow for the magic to start flowing, even if it was simply drawn as necessary, then focus his thoughts through the circle and magic, allowing him to effectively transmute anything into anything else – within limits. The more complex he tried to get, the more magic it would drain.

I'm sure certain readers will suspect they knew what world I got the idea from after reading that. It was an interesting visit, but I'll save that particular story for another time.

I'd spent a fair time working on Sora and Riku's gifts and as so often happens when I get interested in something I'd completely lost track of time. I was rather surprised therefore when there was a creak outside the door of the tower room, then Terra's armour let itself in.

"You're up early," he murmured. "Mind if I visit?"

"Not at all," I replied. "You're welcome to stop by any time. And I'm up late, actually. I sort of got involved in something."

"I did wonder," Terra said, creaking into a chair. "I saw the light in your tower and thought I'd pay a call to find out if it was just left on or something. How are they doing?"

"Not so badly. A few things they could work on, but everyone has their bad habits. I almost wish I'd arrived earlier when I dropped in on you though."

"So you could get some proper training under Eraqus?" Terra chuckled, an odd sound from the empty armour. "I don't think you'd have found much difference. I'd love to know how you hid that darkness from him though."

"I didn't," I admitted. "But he knew how and why I was there. He accepted I had someone to find and something to do and left it at that. We did have a little argument over it once that I recall though. Just before Ventus returned, I believe."

"He mentioned it when I got there. Just after he and I..."

"I know what happened," I nodded understanding. "You couldn't have known. It was Xehanort's doing, not yours."

"I know that," he said dismissively. "Sit in one place for the better part of a decade and you find plenty of time to put your thoughts in order. I tell you though, if I ever get the rest of me back again, anything left of Xehanort had better watch out."

"Somehow I'm not surprised to hear it. Be patient just a bit longer though my friend, it's not quite time for that just yet. Soon enough though, and if anyone interferes, I'll stand up for you."

"I know," Terra said simply. "There's one other thing though. I don't know how I know this mind – I suspect someone like the Book – but I know I have to tell you to keep a very close watch on Sora. All I know is that something is going to happen at some point."

"No idea where or when?"

"Or even how," he added.

"Neku?" I asked. "I assume you've been listening."

"What on earth are you doing up at this ungodly hour?" Neku grumbled, appearing with a yawn. "Oh. Morning Terra," he added, seeing Terra's armour.

"You _were_ actually listening, weren't you?"

"Of course I was," he said quickly. "I was... just finding out what it's like to dream. Anyway, it wasn't one of my relatives. It was done by magic, except I can't tell who, where or when."

"I certainly don't remember anyone casting magic on me," Terra said. "Not in any form I don't recognise or from anyone I don't trust, at least."

"Leave it with us," I told him. "We'll get to the bottom of it, and I'll keep an extra close eye on Sora."

"Leave _that_ with me," Neku added. "I'm not technically involved in their Mark of Mastery exam, so I can ignore the rules that force Liam to keep out of it."

"Don't do anything reckless, old friend."

"As if," he snorted in a fair imitation of Xigbar, then yawned again and said, "I'm going to go back to sleep. I was having an interesting dream." Then vanished.

"Remarkable being," Terra murmured. "Let the boys know I wish them best of luck, will you? Riku especially. He should remember me."

"I take it you're not staying much longer then?"

"No. I like to keep an eye on what happens around here. It's a lot of nothing, but it gives me a reason to wander about. I'll drop in on you when I'm in the area, if you don't mind."

"Never, Terra. Sure you don't want to see them off though?"

"Nah. Thanks for the offer though."

* * *

I caught a few hours catnap – a fairly literal catnap as I tested the magic I'd made for Riku by resuming my own lion form – before Neku woke me to make sure I was up to make breakfast. Also because Sora was the first one up, and I've long since learned not to let him try to make his own breakfast.

Today's plans were simple. Thanks to Neku figuring out how they'd travel to the various worlds and even how to get them on their way, I'd learned what I needed to know to simulate it. I could give them the chance to get in some practice runs before they actually needed them, then return their Keyblades to them with the specific gifts I'd created for them, and then it'd be time for them to be on their way.

I'd already decided not to give Riku a second Keyblade. Though he wasn't aware of it, the one I'd replaced his Way to the Dawn with was the real Kingdom Key – the one that came to me back on Destiny Islands. I'd decided to leave it with him and let him change its form as he saw fit as he collected Keyblades of his own.

I didn't tell them they'd be on their way today, or that I had anything special for any of them. As far as they knew, it was just another day with another bit of training. I probably don't make the world's best teacher, but at least they didn't complain about me.

As Neku knew the theory better than anyone, once they'd had their breakfast he took over to handle the simulated dives they'd take, with me napping nearby except when he needed me to alter the simulation once in a while. It worked well, since I got to catch up on my sleep at the same time.

Once he was satisfied I let Jiminy get up to date, ensured Kairi and Demyx were around so they'd keep an eye on things, asked Kairi to once again lend me a hand accompanying one of my students to the first world – she was a little disappointed when she learned I'd already asked Neku to watch Sora, but she understood – then we were all set and ready to go. Mickey made another visit along with Donald and Goofy to see them off.

The scene was oddly similar to when I'd formally accepted them, except this time I didn't bother to rearrange the furniture. There were three new portals on the floor behind them, one for each of them, but otherwise there were no differences.

"Now then, children," I started.

"Children!" Sora objected.

"Hush. As you might have gathered, it's time for you to be on your way. Since I've already long since thrown out the idea of starting with a clean slate, I have something for each of you as I return your Keyblades to you."

"As if the training wasn't enough," Xion murmured. "Why three portals though? Aren't we going to the same place?"

"I know Neku had you practising together, but the simulated ones were for inter-world travel. These ones will take you from this, the Realm of Light, to there, the Realm of Sleep. Because of that, they're not stable enough to support more than one person. You may meet each other on your travels, you may not – I can't say."

"And what do we do there?" Riku asked. "You never said."

"Ah, yes. The worlds you'll visit there have gone into a deep sleep. Though some of them have been restored after the closing of the Door to Darkness, they must be healed within the Realm of Sleep before they can take their place again here in their proper realm."

"Same as usual," Sora interpreted for Riku. "Beat up Heartless, save the worlds, help everyone in sight-"

"Not quite." I interrupted. "The Heartless are of the darkness, not of sleep. There you will encounter the Dream Eaters. Some of them are benevolent – the Spirits – who consume bad dreams, but they are often outnumbered by the malevolent Nightmares. They are both your allies and your enemies, and their appearance will show which – it is up to you to figure out what exactly the difference is. You will need to seek out the Dream Eaters, as they are essential for travelling between sleeping worlds."

"They sound a lot like Heartless to me," Sora shrugged. "But what do dreams look like?"

"Everything, while there. The entire world is asleep, so its presence in the Realm of Sleep is a dream itself. You can't allow the Nightmares to take a world, otherwise it'll never be truly restored. Now then. Hold out your Keyblades. It's time to restore them to you, along with my own gifts."

Riku naturally held out both, evidently interested to see what I'd do about this, but he had to wait. Where before I'd started with him and finished with Xion, I did the reverse here.

Sleeping Lion was returned to Xion, along with a small dark sphere.

"What's this?" he asked. "It's not a spell orb."

"No. It's not. I just stored the contents like this so you could carry them easier. Inside, you'll find Sharpshooter – Xigbar's Arrowguns. It's up to you to master using this weapon. Just remember that your magic is what creates the ammunition for each shot, and you'll be left open when you reload."

"Huh... never thought I'd find myself fighting at a distance... but it could come in useful."

"That's the idea," I agreed. "Now, Sora," I went on, replacing his Keyblade for Oathkeeper. "You _do_ have some magic from me, but in a very different form to what you're used to." I held out the spell orb to him, larger than the others because it would teach him the theory instead of simply giving him a pre-made spell.

He looked it over just in case it was another trap, then held out his hand to absorb it. Xion and Riku watched as he looked thoughtful, learning the magic.

"Now _that's_ pretty cool," he grinned suddenly. "This'll come in very useful!"

"What is it?" Riku asked curiously. "What's it do?"

"Oh, nothing," Sora said offhandedly. "Just lets me magically turn anything into anything else. Within reason," he added after a moment.

"Alchemy?" Riku asked me.

"The idea was inspired by that in some measure," I admitted. "I imagine you think you already know what you'll be getting from me."

"I think I've got a fair idea by now," he agreed. "Except what you're going to do about this." He held out his off-hand Kingdom Key.

"I'm going to leave it right there. That there, Riku, is the same one I originally wielded. I'm trusting it to you. Your other one, of course..." I trailed off, restoring Way to the Dawn. "And now for _your_ magic." I held out his spell orb to him.

Riku also paused to look it over, thinking things through as he learned the magic. There was no way I could do anything less than have him learn the theory due to the sheer possibilities his could give him.

"Woah," he breathed after a moment. "I know I asked you, but... this is way more than I thought."

"Don't be too quick to thank me," I warned. "It's not quite the same as the magic you used in your test. You won't learn the skills when you assume a new form – you have to master them yourself."

"Shapeshifting magic?" Mickey exclaimed. "You gave him shapeshifting magic? Even Yen Sid has never tried that before."

"I'm not Yen Sid," I reminded him. "Now boys. The time has come for you to depart at last. All I have left to say... is good luck. A sentiment Terra shared and asked me to pass on to you early this morning. Kairi, Demyx – Neku will arrange for you two to appear with them once they've arrived, so don't go jumping in after them. Ready?"

The trio shared a look, then with a grin Sora turned and leaped into his portal ahead of both the others.

"What can I say after that?" Xion asked, then followed him.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm still the only responsible one here?" Riku muttered, heading after them.

* * *

**A/N: **And though I imagine not everyone is going to appreciate this, I'm going to have to put the story on hold here for a short time. There's a few things I have to do before I can properly write the rest of it, so bear with me and stay tuned for the continuation. You won't have too long to wait.


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